THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION  OF 
THE  UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


THE  NATIONAL 
ADMINISTRATION 

OF  THE 

UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA 


BY 


JOHN  A.  FAIRLIE,  PH.D. 

ASSISTANT    PROFESSOR    OF    ADMINISTRATIVE    LAW 
UNIVERSITY    OF    MICHIGAN 


THE  MACMILLAN  COMPANY 

LONDON:  MACMILLAN  &  CO.,  LTD. 
1905 

All  rights  reserved 


COPYRIGHT,  1905 
BY  THE  MACMILLAN  CO. 

Set  up  and  electrotyped. 
Published  April,  1905 


THE  MASON  PRESS 

SYRACUSE,  NEW  YORK 


PREFACE 

IT  is  somewhat  surprising  that  there  has  not  been  published 
long  ago  a  comprehensive  and  systematic  work  on  American 
national  administration,  but  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  with 
all  that  has  been  written  on  our  governmental  system  this  part 
of  it  has  been  hitherto  almost  entirely  neglected,  except  in 
fugitive  and  scattered  articles  on  particular  phases  of  the  sub- 
ject. For  a  long  time  books  on  American  government  dealt 
only  with  the  Constitution  and  its  judicial  interpretation,  with 
special  reference  to  the  powers  of  Congress.  Since  Mr. 
Bryce's  enlightening  work  appeared  attention  has  been  given 
to  methods  of  legislative  procedure  and  the  influence  of  parties 
and  party  machinery.  But  the  administrative  organization 
and  activities  of  the  government  have  still  been  hardly  men- 
tioned in  most  works  of  a  general  nature. 

At  the  same  time  the  importance  of  administrative  questions 
is  evidenced  by  the  attention  given  to  them  in  public  discus- 
sions, in  current  periodicals  and  in  the  volumes  that  have  been 
published  on  many  special  topics.  It  may  indeed  be  safely  as- 
serted that  the  problems  of  administration  are  the  important 
problems  of  the  present;  and  that  they  receive  the  attention 
which  in  earlier  times  was  given  to  problems  of  constitutional 
organization.  In  view  of  these  facts  there  seems  to  be  a  place 
for  a  general  survey  of  the  whole  field  of  national  administra- 
tion which  is  presented  in  this  book. 

A  glance  at  the  table  of  contents  will  indicate  more  definitely 
the  scope  of  the  work.  It  will  be  seen  that  it  is  not  an  account 
of  the  national  government  as  a  whole,  but  simply  of  the  ad- 
ministrative system.  The  legislative  and  judicial  branches  are 


. 


vi  PREFACE 

mentioned  only  in  their  direct  relations  to  the  executive  ad- 
ministration. 

Such  a  study  should  be  of  service  not  only  for  itself,  but  also 
as  a  model,  to  some  extent  at  least,  for  State  and  local  adminis- 
tration. For,  with  its  defects,  the  national  administration 
presents  an  organized  system,  where  responsibility  can  be  fixed 
and  a  fair  degree  of  efficiency  secured ;  and  contrasts  sharply 
with  the  disorganized  and  heterogeneous  mass  of  administra- 
tive officials  in  our  states,  cities  and  other  local  districts.  And 
it  may  be  hoped  that  an  orderly  presentation  of  the  national 
system  may  have  some  influence  in  securing  a  degree  of  organ- 
ization where  there  is  now  little  but  chaos. 

In  the  main  the  book  has  been  written  from  the  primary  of- 
ficial records:  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  the 
statutes  of  Congress,  administrative  reports  and  judicial  de- 
cisions. But  I  have  not  hesitated  to  make  use  also  of  state- 
ments from  unofficial  sources  written  by  those  who  have  had 
opportunity  for  more  thorough  observation  and  investigation 
in  particular  branches  of  the  administrative  service  than  is 
possible  for  any  one  person  covering  so  wide  a  field.  And  in 
many  matters  I  have  been  able  to  rely  on  personal  acquaint- 
ance with  the  administration  in  action. 

References  at  the  beginning  of  each  chapter  furnish  a  select 
bibliography,  covering  the  most  valuable  and  accessible  printed 
material  bearing  directly  on  the  subjects  here  considered. 
These,  however,  do  not  include  references  to  all  of  the  original 
statutes  or  to  the  periodical  reports  of  the  various  departments 
and  bureaus.  Additional  information  may  be  discovered  scat- 
tered through  the  treatises  on  American  history,  government 
and  law,  and  in  the  volumes  of  judicial  reports  of  the  United 
States  courts.  Finally,  for  a  complete  study  of  the  national 
administration,  there  is  a  vast  accumulation  of  unpublished 
records  in  the  archives  of  the  various  government  offices.  An 
account  of  these  unpublished  records  and  their  location  has  re- 
cently been  prepared  in  the  Guide  to  the  Archives  of  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States  in  Washington,  by  Claude  Hal- 


PREFACE  vii 

stead  Van  Tyne  and  Waldo  Gifford  Leland,  published  by  the 
Carnegie  Institution. 

Chapters  I  and  II,  on  the  President,  have  been  previously 
published,  in  practically  their  present  form,  in  the  Michigan 
Law  Review  for  December,  1903,  and  January,  1904. 

ANN  AKBOB,  Mich., 
December  1, 1904. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.     THE  PRESIDENT— I 1 

General  Administrative  Powers. 

II.     THE  PRESIDENT— II „    .    .      28 

Special  Administrative  Powers. 

III.  THE  SENATE  AND  CONGRESS 44 

IV.  THE  CABINET  AND  ITS  MEMBERS    ......      54 

V.    ADMINISTRATIVE  ORGANIZATION     ......      70 

VI.     THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  STATE 77 

The  Diplomatic  Service. 
The  Consular  Service. 

VII.    THE  DEPARTMENT  OP  THE  TREASURY— I     ...      92 

Customs  Administration. 
Internal  Eevenue  Service. 

VIII.    THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TREASURY— II  .    .    .    113 

The  Treasury. 
Accounting  and  Auditing. 
Currency  Administration. 
Miscellaneous  Bureaus. 
iac 


r  CONTENTS 

IX.     THE  DEPARTMENT  OP  WAR       133 

The  Army. 
Military  Bureaus. 
Public  Works. 
Civil  Administration. 

X.     THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  NAVY 152 

The  Navy. 
Administrative  Bureaus. 

XI.     THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  JUSTICE      ......     165 

XII.    THE  POST-OFFICE  DEPARTMENT 176 

The  Postal  Service. 
Central  Administration. 

XIII.  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR— I     .    .    .    188 

Public  Lands. 
Indian  Affairs. 

XIV.  THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR— II    .     .    .    205 

Pension  Bureau. 
Patent  Office. 
Bureau  of  Education. 
The  Geological  Survey. 
The  Territories. 
; 

XV.    THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE 220 

The  Weather  Bureau. 
The  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry. 
The  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry. 
Other  Bureaus. 


CONTENTS  xi 

XVI.     THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  COMMERCE  AND  LABOR      .    230 

The  Bureau  of  Corporations. 
Statistical  Bureaus. 
Marine  Commerce. 
The  Bureau  of  Immigration. 
The  Bureau  of  Standards. 


XVII.    DETACHED  BUREAUS .    248 

The  Inter-State  Commerce  Commission. 
The  Civil  Service  Commission. 
The  Government  Printing  Office. 
The  Library  of  Congress. 
The  Smithsonian  Institution. 


CASES  CITED 263 

INDEX  .  267 


NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 


CHAPTER  I 
THE 


References.  —  POMEROT:  Constitutional  Law,  114-118,  531-612.  —  BUR- 
GESS: Political  Science,  II,  216-263.  —  VON  HOLST:  Constitutional 
Law,  82-90,  190-211.  —  THE  FEDERALIST:  Nos.  67-77.-—  GOODNOW  : 
Comparative  Administrative  Law,  I,  59-74.  —  B.  HARRISON:  This 
Country  of  Ours,  68-180.  —  JAMES  BRYCE:  The  American  Common- 
wealth, I,  38-85.—  S.  G.  FISHER:  The  Trial  of  the  Constitution,  202- 
268.  —  GROVER  CLEVELAND:  Presidential  Problems.  —  L.  M.  SALMON: 
History  of  the  Appointing  Power.  —  G.  N.  LIBBER:  Remarks  on  the 
Army  Regulations;  Use  of  the  Army  in  Aid  of  the  Civil  Power.  — 
Atlantic  Monthly:  55:826;  85:721;  86:1.  —  North  American  Review: 
133:464;  144:120,  261.—  American  Law  Review:  31:876.—  Political 
Science  Quarterly:  1:163,  533;  3:345.  —  American  Historical  Associa- 
tion, Report  for  1899:65-87. 

AT  the  head  of  the  national  administration  stands  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.  He  is  elected  for  a  term  of  four 
years  by  an  indirect  process,  nominally  through  a  series  of  elec- 
toral colleges  chosen  in  the  different  states,  in  fact  as  the  result 
of  a  party  contest  where  the  original  voters  express  directly 
their  preference  among  the  candidates,  but  where  the  result  de- 
pends on  the  system  of  counting  electoral  votes,  which  may  give 
a  dominant  and  excessive  influence  to  a  small  majority  in  a  few 
pivotal  states.  It  is  not  necessary  here  to  discuss  in  detail  the 
method  of  election.  For,  while  the  formal  process  is  prescribed 
at  some  length  in  the  national  constitution,  the  most  important 
features  form  no  part  of  the  national  administration,  but  are 
regulated  by  state  laws  and  extra  legal  political  customs. 

As  this  work  deals  only  with  the  national  administration,  it 
1  1 


2  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTBATION 

will  not  consider  the  entire  scope  of  presidential  authority. 
Those  constitutional  powers  by  virtue  of  which  the  President 
may  exercise  some  control  over  the  meetings  of  Congress  and 
over  congressional  legislation  are  omitted  as  legislative  in  char- 
acter ;  and  the  discussion  is  confined  to  his  powers  of  an  admin- 
istrative nature. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  national  government,  these  adminis- 
trative powers  were  of  less  importance  than  his  legislative 
powers.  This  was  due  in  part  to  the  insignificance  of  the 
administrative  service,  and  in  part  to  the  lack  of  an  effective 
system  of  control  over  the  service  that  was  in  existence.  The 
same  situation  had  existed  in  the  colonies  and  in  the  states 
before  the  adoption  of  the  national  constitution;  and  it  has 
persisted  to  a  large  extent  until  the  present  time  in  the  state 
governments.  But  in  the  national  government  the  course  of 
events  during  the  last  hundred  years  has  enormously  increased 
the  scope  and  value  of  the  administrative  powers  of  the  Presi- 
dent. Not  only  has  the  national  administrative  service  devel- 
oped far  beyond  anything  imagined  in  1789 ;  but  at  the  same 
time  the  methods  of  presidential  control  over  that  service  have 
become  more  clearly  recognized,  and  the  means  of  enforcing 
that  control  have  been  made  more  and  more  effective. 

The  various  administrative  powers  of  the  President  may  be 
considered  in  two  main  divisions:  On  the  one  hand  he  has 
certain  general  powers  over  all  branches  of  the  national  admin- 
istration; and  on  the  other  hand,  he  has  more  specific  and 
additional  authority  over  some  particular  branches  of  adminis- 
tration. In  the  first  group  are  included  his  control  over  the 
personnel  of  the  administrative  services,  through  his  powers  of 
appointment  and  removal ;  and  his  authority  over  the  activity 
of  the  administrative  officers  and  agents,  based  on  his  consti- 
tutional power  to  take  care  that  the  laws  are  faithfully 
executed,  and  exercised  by  the  issue  of  directions  and  executive 
regulations.  In  the  second  group  are  included  the  special 
authority  conferred  by  the  constitutional  provisions  in  refer- 
ence to  foreign  relations,  the  command  of  the  army  and  navy, 


THE  PRESIDENT— I  3 

and-the^)pj?.er  of  pardon.  Each  of  the  administrative  powers 
will  be  considered  in  turn. 

GENERAL  ADMINISTRATIVE  POWERS 

Power  of  Appointment.— The  constitution  of  the  United 
States  provides  that  the  President 

' '  Shall  nominate,  and  by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate, 
shall  appoint  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers,  and  consuls,  judges  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  and  all  other  officers  of  the  United  States,  whose  ap- 
pointments are  not  herein  otherwise  provided  for,  and  which  shall  be 
established  by  law.  But  the  Congress  may,  by  law,  vest  the  appointment 
of  such  inferior  officers  as  they  think  proper  in  the  President  alone,  in  the 
courts  of  law,  or  in  the  heads  of  departments.  The  President  shall  have 
power  to  fill  up  all  vacancies  that  may  happen  during  the  recess  of  the 
Senate,  by  granting  commissions  which  shall  expire  at  the  end  of  their 
next  session. 7 ' 

In  other  clauses,  the  constitution  provides  for  the  election  of 
President,  Vice-President,  presidential  electors,  members  of 
the  Senate,  and  members  of  the  House  of  Kepresentatives.  It 
also  gives  to  each  house  of  Congress  the  exclusive  power  to 
choose  its  own  officers.  These  positions  are,  therefore,  ex- 
empted from  the  presidential  power  and  entirely  beyond  his 
control.  The  offices  to  be  filled  by  the  President  must  in  most 
cases  be  created  by  law  of  Congress.  Even  in  the  case  of  the 
Supreme  Court,  which  is  specifically  established  by  the  consti- 
tution, the  number  of  judges  is  left  to  be  determined  by 
Congress.  In  laws  creating  offices,  Congress  may,  and  usually 
does,  fix  the  length  of  term  (except  for  the  judiciary),  and 
the  compensation,  allots  the  powers  and  duties,  and  prescribes 
general  conditions.  It  also  decides  whether  appointments  are 
to  be  made  by  the  President  and  Senate,  or  by  the  President 
alone,  the  courts  of  law,  or  the  heads  of  the  departments.  But 
in  no  case  can  Congress  itself  take  any  positive  step  towards 
filling  an  office  except  those  connected  with  its  own  organiza- 
tion, nor  can  it.  confer  the  power  of  appointment  upon  any 
one  not  mentioned  in  the  constitution.1 

1  United  States  v.  Germain,  99  U.  S.  508. 


4  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

What  class  of  positions  come  within  the  term  "inferior  offi- 
cers "  has  never  been  carefully  defined,  and  probably  cannot  be 
determined  with  exactness.1  The  question  has  never  become 
serious  because  Congress  has  shown  no  tendency  to  prescribe 
any  of  the  alternative  methods  of  appointment,  except  for 
distinctly  subordinate  positions.  Thus,  not  only  the  Jieadsjof 
the  fyrpflt.  ^ApuftmATifg  but  also  the  heads  of  bureaus  and 
important  local  officers— such  as  revenue  collectors  and  post- 
masters in  cities— are  appointed  by  the  President  and  Senate. 
The  number  of  officers  selected  by  this  method  has  naturally 
shown  a  steady  increase.  In  the  time  of  Jefferson  the  number 
of  presidential  offices  was  about  400;  at  the  inauguration  of 
Jackson  there  were  over  600 ;  and  when  Lincoln  became  Presi- 
dent the  number  was  about  1,500.  At  the  present  time  there 
are  more  than  6,000  presidential  offices  in  the  civil  service, 
with  an  aggregate  salary  of  .$12,000,000  a  year.2 

Moreover,  the  great  bulk  of  these  presidential  offices  hold 
only  for  four-year  terms,  and  are  thus  automatically  vacated 
for  new  appointments  during  each  presidential  term.  This 
system  of  four-year  terms  was  introduced  by  the  Tenure  of 
Office  Act  of  1820,  which  prescribed  this  period  for  district 
attorneys,  collectors  of  customs,  and  other  financial  officials. 
In  1836  the  short-term  rule  was  extended  by  statute  to  the 
more  important  postmasters.  And  at  the  present  time  the 
four-year  period  is  in  practice  almost  universal,  since  where 
it  is  not  applied  by  statute,  it  is  recognized  by  the  custom  of 
resignations,  or  may  be  enforced  by  the  exercise  of  the  power 
of  removal. 

1  Collins  v.  U.  S.  14  Ct.  of  Claims,  569. 

1See  summary  in  .Forum,  Vol.  31,  p.  25: 

State  Department,     318  offices,  aggregating $  1,000,000 

Treasury       "              743       "               "          617,355 

Post  Office   ' «          4,015       "               "          6,931,000 

Interior            "         747      "               "          1,997,640 

Judiciary,                                                "          1,126,000 


$11,671,995 


/'f/i  liff 

THE  PKESIDENT— I  5 

In  exercising  this  enormous  power  of  patronage,  the  Presi- 
dent is  not  limited  by  any  legal  requirements,  established 
either  by  statute  or  by  standing  executive  regulations,  govern- 
ing the  qualifications  of  candidates.  The  civil  service  exami- 
nation system,  governing  the  selection  of  candidates  for 
subordinate  and  technical  posts,  does  not  affect  the  positions 
filled  by  the  appointment  of  the  President  and  Senate.  In- 
deed, statutory  qualifications  would  probably  be  considered  an 
infringement  on  the  constitutional  grant  of  the  appointing 
power ;  and  some  have  professed  to  believe  that  even  executive 
regulations  could  not  be  applied  to  positions  of  this  kind. 

The  President 's  power  of  appointment  is,  however,  restricted 
by  the  participation  of  the  Senate;  and  to  comprehend  the 
significance  of  the  President's  authority  it  is  necessary  to 
examine  the  influence  exercised  by  the  Senate.  Some  of  the 
opponents  of  the  constitution  feared  that  the  President,  through 
his  power  of  nomination,  would  have  full  control  over  appoint- 
ments; and  that  an  ambitious  man,  supported  by  his  own 
appointees  in  office,  might  retain  possession  of  the  Presidency 
after  the  expiration  of  his  term.1  The  friends  of  the  consti- 
tution argued  that  the  power  of  the  Senate  would  act  as  a 
restraint  on  the  President ;  but  at  the  same  time  they  believed 
that  the  power  of  nomination  would  place  the  primary  respon- 
sibility on  the  President,  and  that  this  would  tend  to  secure 
good  appointments. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  national  government  an  attempt  was 
made  to  limit  the  President 's  power  over  nominations.  It  was 
urged  that  the  right  of  the  Senate  to  advise  appointments 
could  only  be  accomplished  by  suggesting  names  to  the  Presi- 
dent, from  which  he  might  make  nominations,  to  which  the 
Senate  would  have  to  consent  before  the  definitive  appoint- 
ment could  be  made.  This  method,  by  giving  the  Senate  the 
right  of  initiative  and  the  power  of  ratification,  would  virtually 
have  made  the  Senate  the  sole  appointing  power.  This  inter- 
pretation was  so  clearly  contrary  to  the  intent  of  the  consti- 

• 

1  Elliott's  Debates,  I,  379. 


6  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

tution  that  it  was  never  accepted,  and  the  Senate  collectively 
acts  on  appointments  only  after  nominations  have  been  sub- 
mitted. 

But,  while  the  Senate  as  a  body  does  not  control  nominations, 
the  individual  Senators  have  come  to  wield  a  large  influence 
in  this  field,  and  in  some  cases  almost  dictate  nominations  for 
local  positions.  This  influence  of  the  individual  Senators  has 
developed  through  the  custom  of  " senatorial  courtesy/'  where- 
by the  Senate  will  refuse  to  consent  to  a  nomination  which  is 
opposed  by  a  Senator  from  the  state  concerned,  who  belongs  to 
the  same  party  as  the  President,  and  this  opposition  is  almost 
certain  to  develop  if  the  recommendation  of  the  Senator  has 
not  been  accepted  by  the  President.  Thus,  for  local  positions, 
it  is  often  the  case  that  the  primary  selection  is  made  by  the 
Senators,  or  for  less  important  positions  by  members  of  the 
House  of  Representatives,  and  the  President  merely  exercises 
a  power  to  reject  unfit  persons.  To  a  large  extent  some  such 
procedure  is  an  almost  necessary  result  of  the  great  number  of 
positions  now  filled  by  presidential  nomination.  It  is  impos- 
sible for  the  President  to  have  personal  knowledge  of  the 
applicants  for  local  offices ;  and  since  he  must  rely  on  some  one 
else  for  advice,  it  is  natural  that  he  should  give  weight  to  the 
recommendations  of  the  Senators  and  Representatives.1 

For  some  positions,  however,  the  President  exercises  a  much 
larger  personal  control.  The  heads  of  the  Executive  depart- 
ments, who  form  the  Cabinet,  are  in  most  cases  personal  selec- 
tions ;  and  the  Senate  confirms  nominations  for  these  offices  as 
a  matter  of  course.  And  in  making  nominations  for  the  more 
important  offices,  particularly  in  the  diplomatic  service,  the 
President  exercises  a  large  degree  of  independent  judgment. 
Probably  the  President  makes  personal  selections  for  as  many 
positions  as  it  is  possible  for  one  man  to  make  with  due  con- 
sideration. 

At  the  same  time  it  must  be  recognized  that  the  custom  of 
allowing  the  members  of  Congress  to  select  local  officers,  gives 

1  Harrison,  This  Country  of  Ours,  109. 


THE  PEESIDENT— I  7 

them  a  control  over  the  administration  not  contemplated  by 
the  constitution,  and  far  from  satisfactory  in  practice;  while 
the  President's  exclusive  power  over  the  formal  nominations 
tends  to  induce  the  members  of  Congress  to  support  legislative 
measures  favored  by  the  administration,  in  return  for  patron- 
age favors.  There  is  probably  no  specific  agreement  to  trade 
votes  for  appointments;  but  the  influence  of  existing  customs 
certainly  violates  the  spirit  of  the  constitutional  separation  of 
powers. 

To  correct  this  misuse  of  the  presidential  appointing  power 
is  not  an  easy  matter,  which  can  be  fully  accomplished  by 
promulgating  a  legal  rule,  either  in  the  form  of  a  statute  or 
of  an  executive  regulation.  The  positions  affected  are  of  a 
distinctly  different  character  from  those  in  the  subordinate 
classified  service  now  filled  by  means  of  competitive  written 
examinations;  and  call  for  qualifications  of  business  capacity 
which  cannot  be  thoroughly  tested  by  that  method.  A  system 
of  higher  grade  examinations  based  on  a  professional  univer- 
sity course  in  law,  economics  and  public  administration,  such 
as  is  followed  in  Germany,  could  undoubtedly  be  devised,  and 
could  be  so  adapted  to  American  educational  methods  as  to 
avoid  any  possible  danger  of  the  bureaucratic  spirit.  But 
even  such  a  system  could  be  perverted  to  partisan  purposes  so 
long  as  present  notions  as  to  the  political  nature  of  presidential 
appointments  prevail.  The  fundamental  change  that  must  be 
made  is  the  recognition  and  appreciation,  both  by  the  people  at 
large  and  by  the  politicians,  of  the  non-political  character  of 
the  administrative  offices.  , 

Two  suggestions  may  be  made  which,  if  adopted,  would  aid 
in  emphasizing  this  non-political  character  of  such  offices  and 
in  reducing  the  scope  of  political  patronage.  If  the  four-year 
tenure  law  were  replaced  by  the  older  system  of  appointment 
for  indefinite  terms,  the  patronage  at  the  free  disposal  of  any 
administration  would  be  reduced  to  a  fraction  of  what  it  now 
is.  And  if  the  appointment  of  local  officers  could  be  trans- 
ferred from  the  President  and  Senate  (both  essentially  polit- 


\f 

8  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

( 

ical  organs)  to  the  heads  of  the  departments,  who  are  more  di- 
rectly responsible  for  the  efficient  conduct  of  their  respective 
departments,  administrative  qualifications  would  receive 
larger  consideration  than  is  now  given  them.  Such  a  decen- 
tralization of  the  appointing  power  would  not  take  from  the 
President  any  control  which  he  personally  exercises ;  but  would 
be  simply  a  recognition  that  the  number  of  appointments  is  far 
larger  than  the  President  can  select  in  person,  and  would 
transfer  the  responsible  power  of  appointment  to  an  adminis- 
trative officer,  who  would  be  less  dependent  on  the  advice  of 
members  of  Congress.  Not  only  would  this  action  tend  to 
better  the  character  of  the  administrative  service ;  but  the  re- 
duction of  congressional  patronage  would  tend  to  eliminate  a 
serious  corrupting  influence  from  the  congressional  elections. 

It  may  be  added  that  still  further  decentralization  in  ap- 
pointments may  become  advisable  in  the  future  as  a  counter* 
balance  to  the  growing  centralization  in  legislation  and  the 
scope  of  the  national  administrative  service.  Certainly  if  the 
constitution  should  be  amended  to  give  Congress  larger  powers, 
there  should  at  the  same  time  be  amendments  providing  for 
some  decentralization  of  the  national  administration.  This 
might  be  accomplished  by  giving  the  state  governors  the  power 
of  appointing  local  agents  of  the  national  government,  a 
method  that  would  secure  the  advantage  of  local  knowledge 
and  at  the  same  time  continue  the  method  of  appointments  by 
an  executive  official. 

None  of  these  proposals  is  intended  to  suggest  any  limitation 
on  the  President's  power  of  removal.  That  power,  as  will 
presently  be  seen,  is  what  gives  him  the  effective  control  over 
the  whole  administration  which  he  should  continue  to  hold. 
Moreover  by  separating  the  power  of  removal  from  the  power 
of  appointment  for  local  offices,  and  reserving  the  removal 
power  to  the  President,  a  further  remedy  is  provided  against 
the  abuse  of  the  appointing  power  for  partisan  or  personal 
purposes. 
\  "Power  of  Removal.— The  constitution  provides  for  removal 


THE  PKESIDENT— I  9 

from  office  by  the  process  of  impeachment  and  contains  no 
other  mention  of  the  power  of  removal.  Under  the  strictest 
construction  of  the  constitution,  it  might  be  urged  that  there 
is,  therefore,  no  other  method  than  impeachment  by  which  ad- 
ministrative officers  could  be  removed.1  But  from  the  time 
the  question  was  raised,  it  seems  to  have  been  admitted  that 
there  is  a  larger  power  of  removing  officers  whose  terms  were 
not  explicitly  prescribed  by  the  constitution.  By  whom  such 
removals  might  be  made  was  a  question  answered  in  different 
ways.  There  are  three  possible  alternatives:  it  might  be  a 
power  vesting  in  the  President  alone;  it  might  vest  in  the 
President  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate ;  Congress 
might  have  the  right  to  designate  who  should  exercise  the 
power. 

In  the  first  Congress  the  matter  was  thoroughly  discussed. 
The  bill  for  establishing  a  department  of  foreign  affairs  pro- 
vided that  the  head  of  the  department  should  "be  removable 
from  office  by  the  President  of  the  United  States/'  Discus- 
sion at  first  arose  in  the  House  of  Representatives  on  the  ques- 
tion whether  the  President  alone  or  the  President  and  the  Sen- 
ate had  this  power  under  the  constitution.  Hamilton  in  one 
of  the  Federalist  papers  had  stated  that  the  consent  of  the 
Senate  would  be  necessary  to  displace  as  well  as  to  appoint. 
It  was  now  urged  that  removal  from  office  was  part  of  the  ap- 
pointing power,  that  the  Senate  had  by  constitutional  au- 
thority the  same  share  in  removals  as  it  had  in  appointments, 
and  that  it  was  unconstitutional  to  attempt  to  confer  the  power 
on  the  President.  There  was  also  some  opposition  to  the  clause 
on  the  ground  that  a  President  might  abuse  the  power  for  par- 
tisan and  political  ends.  In  opposition  to  this  view,  it  was  con- 
tended that  the  appointment  and  removal  of  officers  are  essen- 
tially executive  acts ;  and  that  while  the  President's  power  over 
appointments  was  specifically  limited  by  the  constitution, 
there  was  no  limitation  on  his  power  to  remove.  Madison  sup- 

1  This  would  not  restrict  the  power  of  removing  subordinate  agents  and 
employees  below  the  rank  of  * '  officers. ' ' 


10  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

ported  the  President's  power  of  removal;  and  replied  to  the 
charge  that  he  might  abuse  the  power,  that  wanton  removal  of 
meritorious  officers  would  subject  him  to  impeachment  and  re- 
moval from  his  own  position.  The  motion  to  strike  out  the 
clause,  which  had  been  supported  by  those  who  favored  Senate 
participation,  was  defeated  by  a  vote  of  thirty-four  to  twenty. 

It  was  next  pointed  out,  however,  that  the  clause  did  not  rest 
the  President's  authority  on  the  constitution,  but  attempted  to 
confer  the  power  on  him  by  legislative  enactment ;  and  it  was 
urged  that  it  was  both  useless  and  improper  for  the  Congress 
to  grant  a  power  already  conferred  by  the  constitution.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  original  clause  was  withdrawn :  and  in  another 
part  of  the  bill  a  provision  was  inserted  for  filling  vacancies, 
"whenever  the  said  principal  officers  shall  be  removed  from 
office  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  other 
case  of  vacancy."  This  was  understood  and  accepted  as  a 
positive  declaration  that  the  right  of  removal  was  conferred 
on  the  President  by  the  constitution. 

In  the  Senate  there  was  strong  opposition  to  the  provision 
in  the  House  bill,  but  eventually  it  was  adopted  by  the  casting 
vote  of  the  Vice-President.  And  during  the  same  session  of 
Congress,  bills  organizing  the  Treasury  department  and  the 
War  department,  containing  precisely  the  same  provisions, 
were  passed  by  both  houses. 

This  action  took  place  in  1789.  For  78  years  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  constitution  then  accepted  was  followed  with- 
out question.  Then  during  the  quarrel  between  Congress  and 
President  Johnson  an  act  was  passed  for  the  express  purpose 
of  preventing  removals  by  the  latter.  This  Tenure  of  Office 
.V=  Act  of  1867  distinctly  repudiated  the  construction  formerly 
given  to  the  constitution,  but  does  not  clearly  assert  whether 
the  power  of  removal  resides  in  the  President  and  Senate 
under  the  constitution  or  that  Congress  has  control  over  the 
subject.  It  declared  that  removals  to  be  valid  must  be  con- 
sented to  by  the  Senate,  that  during  the  recess  of  the  Senate 
the  President  could  do  no  more  than  conditionally  suspend  an 


THE  PEESIDENT— I  n 

officer,  and  that  only  for  good  cause ;  and  that  he  must  report 
all  suspensions  for  the  approval  of  the  Senate  within  twenty 
days  after  the  beginning  of  a  new  session. 

^* 

Two  years  later,  when  President  Johnson  was  succeeded  by 
President  Grant,  the  law  of  1867  relating  to  removals  and 
suspensions  was  amended  by  additional  legislation.  In  the 
new  statute,  the  President  was  permitted  to  suspend  officers 
"in  his  discretion,"  instead  of  only  on  certain  specified 
grounds.  Where  the  former  law  had  provided  that  a  sus- 
pended officer  should  resume  his  office  if  the  Senate  refused 
to  concur  in  the  suspension,  the  statute  of  1869  simply  pro- 
vided that  if  the  Senate  refused  to  confirm  an  appointment  in 
place  of  a  suspended  officer,  the  President  should  nominate 
another  person  for  the  office.1  This  latter  arrangement  would 
seem  to  make  the  President's  power  of  suspension  equivalent 
to  the  power  of  removal,  although  the  use  of  the  word  suspen- 
sion is  somewhat  equivocal.  Evidently  President  Grant  was 
not  entirely  satisfied ;  for  in  his  first  annual  message  to  Con- 
gress he  complained  of  the  law  of  1869.  But  as  the  President 
and  Senate  were  now  in  political  accord  no  difficulties  arose ; 
and  the  statute  was  allowed  to  remain.  Nor  did  any  trouble 
arise  until  on  the  inauguration  of  President  Cleveland  in  1885, 
the  President  and  the  majority  of  the  Senate  were  again  polit- 
ically opposed. 

During  the  session  of  Congress  in  the  winter  of  1885-6,  the 
Senate  delayed  action  for  several  months  on  a  large  number 
of  nominations  made  by  President  Cleveland  to  fill  vacancies 
caused  by  suspensions  during  the  preceding  recess.  During 
this  period  the  Senate  endeavored  to  obtain  from  the  executive 
departments  information  as  to  the  causes  of  the  suspensions, 
and  this  information  the  executive  departments,  under  direc- 
tion of  the  President,  declined  to  furnish.  The  President 
claimed  that  suspension  was  a  purely  executive  act  with  which 

irThe  attorney-general  held  that  if  the  Senate  adjourned  before  con- 
firming a  nomination  in  cases  of  suspension,  the  suspended  officer  became 
reinstated,  but  could  be  again  suspended.  15  Opinions  Atty.-Gen.  376. 


12  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTBATION 

the  Senate  had  no  concern.  The  Senate  asserted  in  a  Reso- 
lution that  it  was  "the  duty  of  the  Senate  to  refuse  its  advice 
and  consent  to  proposed  removals  of  officers"  when  the  docu- 
ments and  papers  in  reference  to  supposed  official  misconduct 
were  withheld  by  the  Executive.  The  President  maintained 
his  position ;  and  eventually  the  Senate  confirmed  the  nomina- 
tions to  fill  the  vacancies.1 

At  the  next  session  of  Congress,  an  Act  was  passed  repealing 
the  Act  of  1869  amending  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act  of  1867. 
This  Act  of  1887  repealed  the  provision  requiring  the  submis- 
sion of  suspensions  to  the  Senate,  and  thus  restored  the  orig- 
inal interpretation  of  the  President's  unlimited  power  of 
removal.  According  to  the  earlier  and  present  construction, 
the  Tenure  of  Office  Acts  of  1867  and  1869  were  unconstitu- 
tional, since  they  were  based  on  the  theory  that  Congress  had 
the  power  to  determine  how  removals  should  be  made. 

It  is  true  that  soon  after  the  passage  of  the  Act  of  1867,  a 
circuit  judge  considered  it  constitutional,  on  the  ground  that 
Congress  had  full  control  over  the  question,  and  under  the 
earlier  system  had  practically  conceded  the  right  of  removal 
to  the  President.2  But  in  the  face  of  subsequent  events,  it 
may  be  doubted  whether  this  dictum  is  the  final  judicial  opin- 
ion on  the  question. 

Certainly  in  recent  cases  the  Supreme  Court  has  recognized 
an  unlimited  presidential  power  of  removal  in  the  face  of 
statutory  provisions  similar  to  those  which  the  state  courts 
consider  as  limitations  on  the  removal  power  of  state  governors. 
In  one  case  it  has  been  held  that  the  President's  power  of 
removal  applies  to  officers  appointed  for  a  definite  term,  before 
that  term  has  expired.3  And  in  another  case  it  has  been  held 

1  Atlantic  Monthly,  Vol.  86,  p.  1;  Grover  Cleveland,  Presidential  Prob- 
lems. 

8  IT.  S.  v.  Avery,  Deady's  Reports,  204;  24  Federal  Cases,  902.  The 
constitutionality  of  the  Act  of  1867  was  not  involved  in  the  case  before 
the  court. 

•Parsons  v.  U.  S.,  167  U.  S.  324  (1896). 


THE  PRESIDENT — I  13 

that  the  President's  power  is  not  restricted  by  an  Act  of  Con- 
gress defining  certain  causes  for  removal. 

This  latter  case  arose  out  of  an  Act  of  1890  establishing  the 
board  of  customs  appraisers,  which  provided  that  the  apprais- 
ers were  to  be  appointed  for  no  definite  term,  but  could  be 
removed  by  the  President  for  '  '  inefficiency,  neglect  of  duty  or 
malfeasance  in  office".  This  board  of  appraisers  has  been 
called  a  customs  administrative  court ;  and  it  seems  to  have  been 
the  intention  to  give  its  members  a  tenure  approaching  in  per- 
manence that  of  the  national  judiciary.  In  the  states,  a  pro- 
vision authorizing  removals  for  certain  causes,  is  regularly  held 
by  the  state  courts  to  require  a  statement  of  charges  and  an  in- 
vestigation by  the  removing  authority.  When,  therefore,  an 
appraiser  named  Shurtleff  was  removed  from  his  position 
without  notice  of  any  charges  or  cause  for  his  removal,  he 
brought  the  question  as  to  the  legality  of  his  removal  before 
the  judiciary.  But  the  Supreme  Court  decided  that  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Act  did  not  restrict  the  President's  power  of 
removal  to  the  causes  specified ;  but  in  addition,  the  President 
had  the  power  of  removal  at  will,  and  that  no  notice  or  hearing 
was  necessary.1 

One  important  class  of  national  officers— the  judges — are 
excepted  from  the  President's  power  of  removal  by  the  consti- 
tution. The  provision  that  United  States  judges  shall  hold 
office  during  good  behavior  makes  them  irremovable  except  by 
the  process  of  impeachment.  But  over  all  officers  in  the  exec- 
utive branch  of  the  government,  the  President's  power  of 
removal  is  beyond  question. 

The  extent  to  which  the  Presidents  have  exercised  the  power 
of  removal  is  one  of  the  most  marked  characteristics  of  Amer- 
ican administration.  Advocated  as  a  necessary  means  to 
enable  the  President  efficiently  to  discharge  his  duty  to  see 
that  the  laws  are  faithfully  executed ;  the  power  has  been  used 
to  make  changes  on  a  large  scale  at  the  beginning  of  every 
presidential  term,  and  in  connection  with  the  four-year  tenure 
Shurtleff  v.  U.  S.,  189  U.  S.,  311. 


14  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

for  many  positions  it  operates  to  secure  an  almost  complete 
change  in  the  administrative  personnel,  whenever  there  has 
been  a  political  change  in  the  executive.  While  Madison  held 
that  removal  of  a  meritorious  officer  would  be  a  just  cause  for 
impeaching  the  President,  removals  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
creating  a  vacancy  for  a  political  supporter  have  come  to  be  a 
frequent  occurrence.  It  must  be  noted,  however,  that  the  cus- 
tom of  removals  for  political  reasons,  is  a  logical  result  of  the 
system  of  political  appointments. 

It  will  be  of  interest  to  note  the  development  in  the  practice 
of  removals.  Under  Washington  and  Adams  there  was  but  lit- 
tle opportunity  for  political  removals,  and  but  few  removals 
of  any  kind  are  recorded.  Under  Jefferson,  there  were  about 
one  hundred  removals  out  of  four  hundred  positions,  the 
changes  being  defended  on  the  ground  that  appointments  had 
previously  been  confined  to  the  Federalists.  During  the  terms 
of  Madison,  Monroe  and  John  Quincy  Adams,  which  involved 
no  change  in  political  control,  the  number  of  removals  was  com- 
paratively small,  aggregating  about  sixty  for  the  period  of 
twenty  years.  When  Jackson  became  President  in  1829,  the 
pressure  for  appointments  led  to  a  very  marked  increase  in  re- 
movals; although  the  extent  and  significance  of  Jackson's  ac- 
tion has  often  been  much  exaggerated.  There  were  about  two 
hundred  removals  in  about  six  hundred  presidential  offices.1 
When  Van  Buren  succeeded  Jackson,  there  were  compara- 
tively few  removals;  but  after  that  time  they  were  made  in 
great  abundance  after  each  presidential  inauguration,  even 
when  there  was  no  change  in  party  control.  The  inauguration 
of  Lincoln  was  marked  by  a  larger  proportion  of  removals 
than  at  any  time  previously.  Nearly  nine  hundred  out  of 

1  The  statement  frequently  made  that  Jackson  made  2,000  removals  dur- 
ing the  first  year  of  his  administration  is  based  on  a  rough  estimate  made 
by  Senator  Holmes  of  Maine,  which  obviously  includes  removals  from 
minor  posts;  and  the  comparison  of  this  figure  with  the  removals  from 
presidential  offices  before  Jackson's  time  is  hardly  just. 


THE  PEESIDENT— I 


15 


fifteen  hundred  presidential  offices  were  vacated.1  The  con- 
tinued success  of  the  Republican  party  produced  conditions 
favorable  to  a  smaller  removal  rate  until  the  inauguration  of 
Cleveland  in  1885.  The  quadrennial  changes  in  party  control 
during  the  next  twelve  years  were  each  followed  by  removals 
on  a  large  scale. 

It  is  very  doubtful  if  the  transfer  of  the  power  of  removal 
from  the  President  alone  to  the  President  and  Senate  would 
prove  an  effective  remedy  for  this  condition.  The  difficulty 
lies  deeper,  in  the  prevailing  custom  of  political  appointments 
for  positions  which  should  be  purely  administrative ;  and  until 
public  opinion  forces  a  change  in  the  system  of  appointments, 
removals  will  inevitably  be  made  on  the  same  basis.  More- 
over it  remains  true,  as  it  was  argued  in  1789,  that  the  power  of 
removal  is  indispensable  to  the  President  if  he  is  to  be  held  re- 
sponsible for  the  administration  and  execution  of  the  laws. 
And  in  addition  to  developing  the  system  of  political  removals, 
from  the  power  of  removal  there  has  been  evolved  in  large 

REMOVALS  FKOM  OFFICES  BY  PEESIDENTS 
American  Historical  Association,  Beport  1899,  p.  84. 


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"Including  40  midnight  appointments  not  recognized. 


16  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

measure,  the  President's  effective  power  of  direction  and  super- 
vision over  the  entire  national  administration. 

Power  of  Direction.— Not  only  does  the  President  exercise 
much  influence  over  the  personnel  of  the  administration 
through  his  powers  of  nomination  and  removal,  but  he  can  also 
control  and  direct  in  large  degree,  the  actions  of  the  adminis- 
trative officials.  The  constitutional  provisions  which  author- 
ize this  power  are  those  vesting  the  executive  power  in  the 
President,  and  requiring  him  to  take  care  that  the  laws  are 
faithfully  executed.  But  the  principal  means  by  which  the 
President  can  make  his  control  effective  is  the  power  of  re- 
moval, the  possibility  of  which  will  usually  secure  obedience  to 
his  orders,  while  if  any  official  persists  in  disobedience  his 
removal  permits  the  appointment  of  some  one  who  will  carry 
out  the  President 's  wishes. 

X  Although  the  authority  to  see  that  the  laws  were  executed 
was  clearly  specified  in  the  constitution,  and  the  power  of 
removal  was  recognized  from  the  first  as  belonging  to  the 
President,  the  early  statutes  organizing  the  administrative 
services  did  not  always  acknowledge  the  President's  power  of 
direction.  In  some  cases  the  power  of  direction  was  expressly 
recognized,  as  in  the  acts  organizing  the  departments  of  for- 
eign affairs  and  of  war;  but  in  these  branches  of  administra- 
tion the  President  was  given  by  the  constitution  more  specific 
authority,  which  could  not  readily  be  overlooked.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  act  of  1789,  organizing  the  department  of  the 
Treasury,  contained  no  reference  to  any  presidential  power  of 
direction,  and  indicated  that  the  administration  of  the  finances 
was  to  be  kept  under  the  close  supervision  of  Congress.  The 
act  provided  that  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  should  perform 
all  such  services  relative  to  the  finances  as  he  should  be  directed 
to  perform,  while  the  context  shows  that  the  direction  of  Con- 
gress and  not  of  the  President  was  meant.  Furthermore,  the 
secretary  of  the  treasury,  unlike  the  other  secretaries,  was  to 
make  his  report,  not  to  the  President,  but  to  Congress.  So, 


THE  PEESIDENT— I  17 

too,  the  Post-Office  department  was  organized  without  any 
reference  to  presidential  control  or  direction. 

The  view  thus  negatively  indicated  that  the  President  had 
but  a  limited  power  of  direction,  is  more  positively  expressed 
in  a  judicial  opinion  in  one  of  the  United  States  courts  as  late 
as  1835:- 

"The  legislature  may  prescribe  the  duties  of  the  office  at  the  time  of 
its  creation  or  from  time  to  time,  as  circumstances  may  require.  If  those 
duties  are  absolute  and  specific,  and  not  by  law  made  subject  to  the  con- 
trol or  direction  of  any  superior  officer  who  is  by  law  especially  authorized 
to  direct  how  those  duties  are  to  be  performed,  the  officer  whose  duties 
are  thus  prescribed  by  law  is  bound  to  execute  them  according  to  his  own 
judgment.  That  judgment  cannot  lawfully  be  controlled  by  any  other 
person  .  ...  .  As  the  head  of  an  executive  department  he  is  bound, 
when  required  by  the  President,  to  give  his  opinion  in  writing  upon  any 
subject  relating  to  the  duties  of  his  office.  The  President,  in  the  execu- 
tion of  his  duties  to  see  that  the  laws  are  faithfully  executed,  is  bound  to 
see  that  the  postmaster-general  discharges  '  faithfully '  the  duties  assigned 
by  law;  but  this  does  not  authorize  the  President  to  direct  him  how  he 
shall  discharge  them.'n 

This  opinion  indicates  the  earlier  conception  of  the  Presi- 
dent's power  of  direction.  But  even  before  it  was  uttered,  it 
had  been  effectively  overruled  by  the  action  of  President 
Jackson  in  forcing  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  to  remove  the 
government  deposits  from  the  United  States  bank.  Notwith- 
standing the  semi-independent  position  given  to  the  secretary 
of  the  treasury  by  Congress,  and  although  the  control  of  gov- 
ernment funds  was  given  specifically  to  that  officer;  when 
Jackson  determined  that  they  should  no  longer  be  deposited  in 
the  United  States  bank,  he  first  transferred  one  recalcitrant 

1  United  States  v.  Kendall,  5  Cranch,  C.  C.  163,  272.  Cf .  also  Kendall  v. 
U.  8.,  12  Peters  610,  where  a  more  guarded  opinion  on  the  same  point  is 
given  by  Justice  Thompson  of  the  Supreme  Court:  "It  by  no  means 
follows  that  every  officer  in  every  branch  of  that  [the  executive]  depart- 
ment is  under  the  exclusive  direction  of  the  President  ....  It 
would  be  an  alarming  doctrine,  that  Congress  cannot  impose  upon  any 
executive  officer  any  duty  they  may  think  proper,  which  is  not  repugnant 
to  any  rights  secured  and  protected  by  the  constitution;  and  in  such 
cases,  the  duty  and  responsibility  grow  out  of  and  are  subject  to  the  con- 
trol of  the  law,  and  not  to  the  direction  of  the  President. ' ' 
2 


18  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

secretary  (McLane),  and  removed  his  successor,  who  also  de- 
clined to  act  as  the  President  wished,  and  finally  secured  one 
(Taney)  who  executed  his  wishes.  There  was  strong  opposi- 
tion to  this  action  on  the  part  of  the  President,  and  the  Senate 
passed  a  resolution  of  censure.  But  this  did  not  alter  the 
situation.  The  President  had  demonstrated  his  authority,  and 
established  a  precedent ;  and  so  long  as  the  power  of  removal  is 
not  restricted,  it  is  clear  that  the  President  can  in  fact  control 
the  action  of  any  administrative  officer  in  the  national  service. 

Since  the  time  of  President  Jackson's  action,  the  larger 
scope  of  the  presidential  power  of  direction  has  come  to  be 
more  clearly  recognized.  Congress  has  added  to  the  specific 
grants  authorizing  the  President  to  direct  the  executive  depart- 
ments. Attorneys-general  have  presented  opinions  as  to  the 
President's  authority,  couched  sometimes  in  extravagant 
terms.  While  the  Supreme  Court  has  clearly  indicated  that 
the  President 's  authority  is  not  limited  to  the  express  terms  of 
congressional  statutes. 

Under  existing  statutes  the  President  has  specific  and  posi- 
tive authority  to  issue  instructions  and  orders  to  the  secretary 
of  state,  the  secretary  of  war,  and  the  secretary  of  the  navy; 
to  require  the  legal  opinion  of  the  attorney-general,1  and  to 
cause  even  the  secretary  of  the  treasury  to  promulgate  regu- 
lations for  a  special  purpose.2  He  has  also  express  statutory 
authority  to  "call  out  the  militia  of  any  state  or  employ  the 
land  and  naval  forces  to  suppress  rebellion  against  the  United 
States,  when  the  ordinary  course  of  judicial  proceedings  is  in 
his  judgment  impracticable."3 

But  in  addition  to  these  and  many  other  detailed  duties  and 
powers  imposed  by  statutes,  the  President  issues  directions  and 
instructions  in  many  cases  not  directly  covered  by  any  specific 
provision  of  the  statutes.  Thus  he  has  used  the  army  for  the 
protection  of  the  mails  without  express  statutory  authority. 

1Bevised  Statutes,  §§  202,  216,  417,  354 
2Acts  of  1890.  c.  51. 
'Revised  Statutes,  §  5298-9. 


THE  PEESIDENT— I  19 

And  he  has  authorized  a  guard  for  the  protection  of  a  justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties. 

Such  extra-statutory  authority  of  the  President  has  been 
repeatedly  supported  by  the  attorneys-general,  and  has  been 
distinctly  upheld  by  the  Supreme  Court. 

Perhaps  the  best  general  statement  of  the  present  situation 
in  this  question  is  the  following  quotation  from  an  attorney- 
general's  opinion,  which  is  paraphrased  from  a  Supreme  Court 
opinion  in  reference  to  the  authority  of  a  head  of  a  department : 

1 '  The  President '  is  limited  in  the  exercise  of  his  powers  by  the  Consti- 
tution and  the  laws;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  he  must  show  a  statutory 
provision  for  everything  he  does.     The  government  could  not  be  admin- 
istered upon  such  contracted  principles.     The  great\outlines  of  the  move- 
ments of  the  executive  may  be  marked  out,  and  limitations  imposed  upon 
the  exercise  of  his  powers,  yet  there  are  numberless  things  which  must  be      \ 
done,  which  cannot  be  anticipated  and  defined,  and  are  essential  to  useful       1 
and  healthy  action  of  government. '  ' n 

An  extreme  view  of  the  President's  power  is  given  in  an 
opinion  by  Attorney- General  Gushing  in  1855 : 

' '  I  think  the  general  rule  to  be  ...  that  the  head  of  a  department 
is  subject  to  the  direction  of  the  President.  I  hold  that  no  head  of  a  de- 
partment can  lawfully  perform  an  official  act  against  the  will  of  the  Presi- 
dent, and  that  will  is  by  the  constitution  to  govern  the  performance  of  all 
such  acts.  If  it  were  not  thus,  Congress  might  by  statute  so  divide  and 
transfer  the  executive  power  as  utterly  to  subvert  the  government  and 
change  it  into  a  parliamentary  despotism  like  that  of  Venice  or  Great 
Britain,  with  a  nominal  executive  chief  or  President  utterly  powerless — 
whether  under  the  name  of  Doge  or  King  or  President  would  then  be  of 
little  account  so  far  as  regards  the  maintenance  of  the  constitution.'  "2 

Not  only  have  the  attorneys-general  of  the  United  States 
clearly  approved  of  a  presidential  power  of  direction  in  addi- 
tion to  that  expressly  authorized  by  statute ;  but  the  Supreme 
Court  has  in  several  cases  recognized  such  extra-statutory 
executive  authority.  Thus  the  right  of  United  States  agents, 
acting  under  instructions  from  the  secretary  of  the  interior, 

1  6  Opin.  Atty.-Gen.  10,365 ;  8  Opin.  Atty.-Gen.  343 ;  10  Opin.  Atty.-Gen. 
413;  Cf.  U.  S.  v.  Macdaniel  7  Peters  14  (1833). 
a  7  Atty.-Gen.  Op.  453,  470. 


•20  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

to  seize  timber  cut  from  government  land,  without  any  positive 
statutory  authority  for  such  instructions,  has  been  upheld.1 
So,  too,  the  right  of  the  attorney-general  to  institute  a  law  suit 
where  the  United  States  had  a  just  cause  for  action,  even  in 
the  absence  of  any  act  of  Congress  expressly  authorizing  it, 
has  been  affirmed.2  And,  again,  it  has  been  held  that  the 
power  of  the  President  to  see  that  the  laws  are  faithfully  exe- 
cuted authorizes,  without  any  express  statutory  grant,  the 
designation  of  a  deputy  marshal  as  a  guard  to  protect  a  United 
States  justice  from  probable  danger,  and  that  a  deputy  marshal 
so  assigned  cannot  be  held  responsible  before  any  state  court 
for  any  act  performed  in  the  discharge  of  this  duty.3  Says 
Justice  Miller,  in  this  last  case,  "We  cannot  doubt  the  power 
of  the  President  to  take  measures  for  the  protection  of  a  judge 
of  one  of  the  courts  of  the  United  States,  who,  while  in  the 
discharge  of  the  duties  of  his  office,  is  threatened  with  a  per- 
sonal attack  which  may  probably  result  in  his  death." 

While  the  President  thus  has  now  a  recognized  and  effective 
power  of  direction  over  executive  officials,  this  is  exercised 
mainly  on  his  own  initiative,  and  he  does  not  entertain  appeals 
from  or  exercise  a  power  of  revision  over  the  acts  of  officials 
on  matters  within  their  competence.  In  the  opinion  of  various 
attorneys-general,  the  President  has  no  power  to  correct  by 
his  official  act  the  errors  of  judgment  of  incompetent  or 
unfaithful  subordinates,  and  there  is  no  appeal  to  the  Presi- 
dent from  the  decision  of  the  head  of  a  department  in  such 
cases.4  If  this  rule  were  not  adopted  the  President  would  be 
overwhelmed  with  appeals  on  matters  of  detail  and  the  trans- 
action of  public  business  would  be  seriously  interrupted. 
Where,  however,  the  question  refers  to  the  jurisdiction  or 

1  Wells  v.  Nickles,  104  U.  S.  444. 
»U.  S.  v.  San  Jacinto  Tin  Co.,  102  U.  S.,  273,  279,  280. 
•  In  re  Neagle,  135  U.  S.  1,  63,  67,  75. 

•Opinions of  the  Attorneys-General,  1:624,636,678;  2:481,  507;  4:515; 
5:275,  630;  6:226;  10:526,  527;  11:14;  13:28. 


THE  PEESIDENT— I  21 

competence  of  the  subordinate  officer,  an  appeal  to  the  Presi- 
dent has  been  allowed : 

' '  The  President  in  the  exercise  of  his  general  administrative  superin- 
tendence may  interfere  to  restrain  an  officer  from  assuming  an  authority 
that  does  not  belong  to  him,  as  he  unquestionably  may  to  compel  the 
officer  to  perform  a  duty  that  does  belong  to  him. 

"In  none  of  the  other  instances  where  the  President's  power  was 
denied  was  the  jurisdiction  of  the  department  officer  in  any  degree 
involved;  but  merely  the  correctness  of  his  official  action  in  matters  ad- 
mitted to  be  within  his  competency. ' n 

Ordinance  Power.— The  President's  control  over  the  con- 
duct of  the  national  administration  is  exercised  in  large  meas- 
ure by  the  issue  of  ordinances  or  executive  regulations. 
Owing  to  the  much  greater  detail  in  legislative  statutes,  execu- 
tive regulations  are  less  important  in  the  United  States  than 
the  ordinances  of  the  German  Bundesrath  or  the  decrees  of  the 
French  President,  and  even  less  important  than  the  orders  in 
council  in  Great  Britain;  but  most  writers  have  exaggerated 
the  extent  of  congressional  control  and  underrated  the  field  of 
executive  regulation  in  the  American  national  administration. 
There  are,  in  fact,  many  elaborate  systems  of  executive  regu- 
lations governing  the  transaction  of  business  in  all  the  various 
branches  of  the  administration.  These  include  organized 
codes  of  regulations  for  the  army  and  navy,  the  postal  service, 
the  patent  office,  pension  office,  the  land  office,  the  Indian 
service,  the  customs,  internal  revenue  and  revenue  cutter  serv- 
ices, the  consular  service,  and  the  rules  governing  examinations 
and  appointments  to  the  whole  subordinate  civil  service.  And 
in  addition  to  these  systematized  rules  there  is  an  enormous 
mass  of  individual  regulations,  knowledge  of  which  is  limited 
to  the  few  persons  who  have  to  apply  them  and  to  those  whom 
they  affect. 

"It  is  difficult  to  form  a  true  conception  of  the  vastness  and  impor- 
tance of  all  this  great  body  of  executive  regulation  law,  controlling,  as  it 
does  the  administration  of  all  the  executive  departments  with  its  rules  of 
action.  And  when  we  consider  that  these  rules  of  action  jare  in  general  ^ 

1 15  Atty.-Gen.  Op.  101-102. 


22  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

made,  construed  and  applied  by  the  same  authority,  thus  combining  quasi- 
legislative,  quasi- judicial  and  executive  authority,  we  cannot  fail  to  be 
impressed  with  the  extent  of  the  jurisdiction  covered  by  them. ' n 

These  executive  regulations  are  sometimes  issued  in  accord- 
ance with  statutory  provisions,  sometimes  without  any  express 
authorization  as  an  exercise  of  the  constitutional  executive 
power.  Regulations  made  pursuant  to  statutes  are  very  com- 
mon. Thus  the  President  is  specifically  authorized  to  make 
regulations  for  the  purchase  and  disposition  of  supplies  for  the 
navy,  in  relation  to  the  duties  of  the  diplomatic  and  consular 
officers,  for  admission  to  the  civil  service,  and  in  reference  to 
killing  fur  seals ;  he  may  suspend  tariff  duties  on  imports  from 
countries  which  enter  into  reciprocity  agreements;,  he  is 
authorized  to  prescribe  the  uniform  for  the  army ;  and  he  has 
explicit  power  to  establish  internal  revenue  districts,  pension 
agencies  and  forest  reservations.2 

Other  regulations,  although  not  expressly  authorized,  sup- 
plement certain  statutes,  prescribing  means  for  carrying  them 
into  effect  in  the  absence  of  sufficient  legislative  regulation. 
Such  regulations  are  often  in  the  nature  of  interpretations  of 
the  statutes.  The  regulations  governing  the  revenue  cutter 
service  are  the  most  important  example  of  this  class ;  and  are 
of  especial  significance,  since  they  establish  a  penal  system 
with  a  code  of  penalties  and  a  system  of  procedure,  all  resting 
on  executive  action  alone.3 

Still  other  regulations  are  issued  by  the  President  by  virtue 
of  his  special  constitutional  powers.  In  this  group  are  the 
greater  part  of  the  army  regulations  issued  by  the  President 
as  commander-in-chief . 

Most  of  the  executive  regulations  are  not  issued  directly  by 
the  President,  but  are  prepared  in  the  department  concerned, 
and  issued  by  the  head  of  department.  But  regulations  issued 

*G.  N.  Lieber,  BemarTcs  on  Army  Regulations ,  p.  47. 
'Revised  Statutes,  §§  1296,  1549,  1752,  1753,  3141,  4778,  4780,  Acts  of 
1891  c.  561. 
•Lieber,  Army  Begulations,  p.  46. 


(UN! 


THE  PEESIDENT— I  23 

in  this  way  are  considered  as  the  acts  of  the  President,  and  he 
is  regarded  as  responsible  for  them. 

"The  President  speaks  and  acts  through  the  heads  of  the  several 
departments  in  relation  to  subjects  which  appertain  to  their  respective 
duties We  consider  the  act  of  the  War  department  in  requir- 
ing this  reservation  to  be  made,  as  being  in  legal  contemplation  the  act 
of  the  President. ' n 

The  most  important  executive  regulations  issued  directly  by 
the  President  are  the  civil  service  rules  and  the  consular  regu- 
lations. 

Two  interesting  legal  questions  have  arisen  concerning  exec- 
utive regulations.  First,  are  they  not  legislative  acts,  and 
therefore  beyond  the  competence  of  the  executive,  and  beyond 
the  power  of  Congress  to  delegate?  Second,  if  they  are  con- 
stitutional because  not  acts  of  legislation,  are  they  rules  of 
law  which  will  be  enforced  by  the  judicial  courts,  or  is  their 
enforcement  secured  only  by  administrative  processes? 

On  the  first  question,  United  States  judges  have  held,  on  the 
one  hand,  that  Congress  may  delegate  the  power  to  make  rules 
and  regulations,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that  this  does  not 
constitute  a  delegation  of  legislative  power.  These  views 
would  seem  to  be  logically  inconsistent  with  each  other;  and 
the  inconsistency  is  not  removed  by  pointing  out  the  difficulty 
of  drawing  the  line  between  legislative  action  and  executive 
discretion.  For  Congress  possesses  only  legislative  power,  and 
it  would  seem  that  any  delegation  of  power  by  Congress  must 
be  a  delegation  of  legislative  power.  If  this  view  is  correct, 
statutory  authorizations  of  executive  regulations  are  either  a 
grant  of  legislative  power,  or  they  are  not  grants  of  power,  but 
merely  expressions  of  opinion  by  Congress  that  the  details  left 
for  executive  regulation  are  not  legislative  in  character. 

In  some  cases  Congress  has  authorized  executive  regulations 
which  approach  very  closely  the  field  of  legislative  action. 
The  most  notable  instance  is  in  the  reciprocity  clause  of  the 

1Wilcox  v.  Jackson,  13  Peters,  498,  513;  see  also  U.  S.  v.  Eliason,  16 
Peters,  291. 


24  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

tariff  act  of  1890,  which  authorized  the  President  to  suspend 
other  clauses  of  the  act  permitting  the  importation  of  certain 
commodities  free  of  duties,  with  reference  to  goods  imported 
from  countries  which  imposed  duties  on  American  products 
deemed  by  the  President  to  be  reciprocally  unequal  and  unrea- 
sonable. By  this  provision  the  imposition  of  duties  was  made 
to  depend  on  the  action  of  the  President.  The  opinion  of  the 
Supreme  Court  as  to  the  constitutionality  of  this  power,  in  the 
case  of  Field  v.  Clark,1  discusses  previous  instances  of  some- 
what similar  provisions,  while  the  dissenting  opinion  of  two 
judges  serves  to  emphasize  the  point  at  issue. 

It  was  shown  that  there  were  numerous  instances  where 
Congress  had  authorized  the  President  to  suspend  the  opera- 
tion of  certain  statutes,  under  given  conditions,  and  some 
cases  where  more  positive  authority  had  been  conferred.  The 
acts  which  gave  the  greatest  extent  of  discretionary  power  to 
the  President  were  the  Embargo  Act  of  1794,  and  the  Non- 
Intercourse  Act  of  1799.  The  former  authorized  the  President 
to  lay  an  embargo  on  shipping  "  whenever,  in  his  opinion,  the 
public  safety  shall  so  require."  The  latter  authorized  the 
President  to  remit  and  discontinue  the  restrictions  placed  by 
the  act  on  commercial  intercourse  "if  he  shall  deem  it  expe- 
dient and  consistent  with  the  interest  of  the  United  States." 
These  and  other  acts  were  cited  as  showing  the  congressional 
interpretation  of  the  question.  But  the  only  act  of  this  kind 
which  had  received  judicial  recognition  was  the  Non-Inter- 
course Act  of  1809,  which  authorized  the  resumption  of  trade 
when  the  President  by  proclamation  declared  that  France  or 
Great  Britain  had  revoked  or  modified  the  edicts  violating  the 
neutral  commerce  of  the  United  States.  This  act  was  upheld 
by  the  Supreme  Court2  on  the  ground  that  the  act  of  the  Presi- 
dent merely  announced  the  condition  or  fact  which  the  legisla- 
ture prescribed  as  necessary  to  the  resumption  of  trade. 

Following  this  precedent,  the  majority  of  the  court  held  that 

1 143  U.  S.  649. 

2  The  Brig  Aurora,  7  Cranch,  382,  388. 


THE  PKESIDENT— I  25 

the  clause  in  the  Act  of  1890  also  left  to  the  President  simply 
the  determination  of  a  fact  or  contingency  upon  which  the 
suspension  of  free  importation  was  to  take  effect. 

"Congress  itself  prescribed  in  advance  the  dutiea  to  be  levied. 
.  .  .  .  The  words  'he  may  deem'  ....  implied  that  the  Pres- 
ident would  examine  the  commercial  regulations  of  other  countries 
.  .  .  and  form  a  judgment  as  to  whether  they  were  reciprocally  equal 
and  reasonable,  or  the  contrary,  in  their  effect  upon  American  products. 
But  when  he  ascertained  the  fact  that  duties  and  exactions  reciprocally 

unequal  and   unreasonable  were  imposed it  became  his 

duty  to  iss,ue  a  proclamation  declaring  the  suspension,  as  to  that  country, 
which  Congress  had  determined  should  occur.  .  .  .  The  President 
was  the  mere  agent  of  the  law-making  department  to  ascertain  and 
declare  the  event  upon  which  its  expressed  will  was  to  take  effect. ' ' 

From  this  opinion  Justice  Lamar  and  Chief  Justice  Fuller 
dissented.  It  was  urged  that  the  legislative  precedents  could 
not  bind  the  judiciary  in  interpreting  the  constitution;  and 
that  the  provision  under  consideration  differed  radically  from 
that  in  the  Non-Intercourse  Act  of  1809. 

' '  It  does  not,  as  was  provided  in  the  statutes  of  1809  and  1810,  entrust 
the  President  with  the  ascertainment  of  a  fact  therein  defined  upon  which 
the  law  is  to  go  into  operation.  It  goes  further  than  that,  and  deputes 
to  the  President  the  power  to  suspend  another  section  in  the  same  act 
whenever  '  he  may  deem '  the  action  of  any  foreign  nation  producing  and 
exporting  the  articles  named  in  that  section  to  be  'reciprocally  unequal 
and  unreasonable ; '  and  it  further  deputes  to  him  the  power  to  continue 
that  suspension  and  to  impose  revenue  duties  on  the  articles  named  '  for 
such  time  as  he  may  deem  just. '  This  certainly  extends  to  the  executive 
the  exercise  of  those  discretionary  powers  which  the  Constitution  has 
vested  in  the  law-making  department.  It  unquestionably  vests  in  the 
President  the  power  to  regulate  our  commerce  with  all  foreign  nations 
which  produce  sugar,  tea,  coffee,  molasses,  hides,  or  any  of  such  articles. ; ' 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  difference  of  opinion  was  as  to 
whether  the  powers  conferred  were  legislative  or  not ;  and  the 
view  of  the  majority  of  the  court  throws  open  a  wide  field  for 
delegated  executive  regulations.  But  the  entire  court  ac- 
cepted the  view  that  Congress  cannot  delegate  legislative 
power,  apparently  the  first  specific  expression  by  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court  of  a  maxim  uniformly  held  by  the  state 
courts. 


26  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

Executive  regulations  not  expressly  authorized  by  statute 
depend  either  on  the  general  executive  power  to  enforce  the 
laws  or  on  special  constitutional  powers  such  as  the  command 
of  the  army.  The  power  to  establish  rules  to  aid  in  the  execu- 
tion of  laws  seems  to  be  clearly  established  by  long  practice ; 
and  some  limitations  on  this  power  have  been  laid  down  by  the 
courts.  An  executive  regulation  interpreting  a  statutory  pro- 
vision may  be  overruled  as  erroneous  by  the  judiciary.  And 
regulations  which  encroach  on  the  legislative  power  have  been 
declared  void.  Thus  it  was  held  that  the  Inter-State  Com- 
merce Commission  had  no  power  to  establish  a  schedule  of  rail- 
road freight  rates,  on  the  ground  that  this  was  legislative 
power  which  had  not  been  clearly  delegated  to  the  Commis- 
sion.1 There  is  a  slight  implication  in  Justice  Brewer's 
opinion  on  this  case  that  if  the  power  had  been  clearly  con- 
ferred it  might  have  been  considered  legal. 

Army  regulations  issued  by  the  President  as  commander- 
in-chief  of  the  army  have  been  repeatedly  recognized  as  legal, 
notwithstanding  the  constitutional  provision  giving  Congress 
the  power  to  make  rules  for  the  government  and  regulation  of 
the  land  and  naval  forces. 

' c  The  power  of  the  executive  to  establish  rules  for  the  government  of 
the  army  is  undoubted.  .  .  .  The  power  to  establish  implies,  neces- 
sarily the  power  to  modify  or  repeal,  or  to  create  anew.  .  .  .  Such 
regulations  cannot  be  questioned  or  defied  because  they  may  be  thought 
nnwise  or  mistaken. ' " 

Executive  regulations  can  in  most  cases  be  effectively  en- 
forced through  the  President's  control  over  the  personnel  of 
the  administrative  service;  and  having  this  sanction  can  be 
considered  law  in  the  broader  sense  of  the  word.  The  question 
has  however  arisen  whether  or  not  they  are  rules  of  law  which 
will  be  recognized  and  enforced  by  the  judicial  courts ;  and  the 
general  reply  may  be  made  that  while  to  a  large  degree  they 

»167  U.  S.  479. 

2U.  S.  v.  Eliason,  16  Peters,  301.  See  also  U.  S.  v.  Freeman,  3  Howard, 
118;  Gratiot  v.  U.  S.  4  Howard,  118;  Kurtz  v.  Moffit,  115  U.  S.  503; 
Swaim  v.  U.  S.,  165  U.  S.,  553. 


THE  PEESIDENT— I  27 

are  so  accepted  by  the  judiciary,  there  are  some  limitations  on 
this  recognition.  The  Supreme  Court  has  held  distinctly  that 
executive  regulations  prescribed  in  pursuance  of  express  au- 
thority of  Congress  "become  a  mass  of  that  body  of  public 
records  of  which  the  courts  take  judicial  notice. ' n  In  another 
case  it  has  been  declared  that : 

* '  Begulations  prescribed  by  the  President  and  by  the  heads  of  the 
departments,  under  authority  granted  by  Congress,  may  be  regulations 
prescribed  by  law,  so  as  lawfully  to  support  acts  done  under  them  and  in 
accordance  with  them,  and  may  thus  have  in  a  proper  sense,  the  force  of 
law;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  a  thing  required  by  them  is  a  thing  so 
required  by  law  as  to  make  the  neglect  to  do  the  thing  a  criminal  offense 
in  a  citizen,  where  a  statute  does  not  distinctly  make  the  neglect  in  ques- 
tion a  criminal  offense. ' ;a 

A  special  form  of  this  question,  on  which  the  United  States 
circuit  courts  have  differed  in  their  opinions,  has  been 
whether  an  injunction  would  be  issued  to  prevent  a  removal 
from  office,  held  to  be  in  violation  of  a  civil  service  rule  pro- 
hibiting removals  for  political  causes.  In  several  such  cases,  it 
has  been  held  that  the  civil  service  rules  are  merely  adminis- 
trative regulations,  enforceable  by  the  executive,  which  had 
ample  authority  to  secure  their  observance;  but  that  a  court 
of  chancery  had  no  jurisdiction  to  compel  their  enforcement.3 
In  another  case,  however,  another  circuit  judge  decided  that 
these  rules  constituted  a  part  of  the  law  which  a  court  of 
equity  had  jurisdiction  to  enforce.4 

'Caha  v.  U.  S.,  152  U.  S.  211,  223. 

"U.  S.  v.  Eaton,  144  U.  S.  677,  688. 

*Carr  v.  Gordon,  82  Federal  Eeporter  379;  Taylor  v.  Kercheval,  82  Fed. 
Eep.  497 ;  Morgan  v.  Dunn,  84  Fed.  Eep.  551. 
•     •Butter  v.  White,  83  Fed.  Eep.  578. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  PRESIDENT— II 

SPECIAL   ADMINISTRATIVE   POWERS 

Turning  now  to  those  particular  branches  of  administration 
where  the  constitution  confers  on  the  President  special  powers, 
we  shall  find  that  in  these  fields  he  has  still  more  ample  author- 
ity. Not  only  do  the  constitutional  grants  guard  him  from  en- 
croachment on  the  part  of  Congress,  but  they  enable  him  at 
times  to  assume  a  large  degree  of  legislative  power. 

Foreign  Relations*— By  the  constitution  all  foreign  rela- 
tions are  entrusted  either  to  the  President  alone,  or  to  the 
President  in  connection  with  the  Senate;  and  Congress  as  a 
whole  has  no  control  in  these  matters,  except  in  certain  in- 
stances to  pass  laws  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of  treaties. 
Several  distinct  clauses  of  the  Constitution  deal  with  this  sub- 
y  ject.  "He  [the  President]  shall  receive  ambassadors  and 
other  public  ministers  accredited  from  foreign  governments/' 
"He  shall  nominate,  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate,  shall  appoint  ambassadors,  other  public  ministers  and 
consuls."  "He  shall  have  power,  by  and  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Senate,  to  make  treaties,  provided  two-thirds  of 
the  Senators  present  concur."  "All  treaties  made,  or  which 
shall  be  made  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States  shall  be 
the  supreme  law  of  the  land;  and  the  judges  in  every  state 
shall  be  bound  thereby,  anything  in  the  constitution  or  laws  of 
any  state  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. ' ' 

These  powers  may  be  differentiated  into  two  main  divisions : 
the  power  of  communication  and  negotiation  with  foreign 
countries,  which  is  under  the  complete  control  of  the  Presi- 

,  Constitutional  Law,  eh.  5,  sec.  4. 
28 


THE  PKESIDENT— II  29 

dent;  and  the  power  of  making  formal  and  binding  interna- 
tional agreements,  having  the  force  of  law,  which  is  shared  by 
the  President  and  Senate. 

The  President  has  full  control  over  all  intercourse,  com- 
munications and  negotiations  between  the  United  States  and 
all  other  governments;  and  while  these  are  for  the  most  part 
carried  on  through  the  secretary  of  state,  that  officer  acts  as 
the  direct  and  personal  agent  of  the  President.  The  latter  is 
kept  more  closely  informed  of  the  details  of  foreign  negotia- 
tions than  of  other  departments,  and  in  important  matters 
takes  an  active  part  in  the  negotiations.  Ambassadors  and 
other  ministers  from  foreign  countries  to  the  United  States 
present  their  credentials  to  the  President,  and  must  be  form- 
ally received  by  him.  By  this  means  he  officially  recognizes 
newly  established  governments.  Ministers  from  the  United 
States  to  foreign  countries  are  nominated  by  the  President; 
and  while  the  nominations  must  be  confirmed  by  the  Senate, 
the  President  exercises  a  larger  personal  influence  in  these 
appointments  than  in  others,  while  his  power  of  nominating 
such  officers  cannot  be  transferred  to  any  other  official.  In 
any  case,  the  Senate's  control  over  these  ministers  ends  with 
their  confirmation.  Their  duties  are  performed  entirely  under 
the  direction  of  the  executive.  Instructions  are  sent  to  them, 
claims  and  demands  presented,  replies  to  foreign  governments 
forwarded,  from  the  President,  acting  through  the  department 
of  State.  Moreover,  all  correspondence  and  negotiations  are 
generally  conducted  in  secret;  and  seldom  published  until 
after  some  conclusions  have  been  reached.  The  degree  of  dis- 
cretionary action  left  to  the  secretary  of  state  will  naturally 
vary  with  circumstances,— such  as  the  relative  experience  of 
that  officer  and  the  President  in  diplomatic  affairs,  the  Presi- 
dent's sense  of  propriety  and  his  convictions  on  a  given  sub- 
ject. But  the  responsibility  in  every  case  rests  on  the  Presi- 
dent alone ;  and  the  importance  of  the  matters  involved  make 
essential  his  close  personal  attention. 

Through  this  power  over  negotiations  with  foreign  countries 


30  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

the  President  has  a  momentous  and  far-reaching  authority. 
He  has  the  sole  initiative  in  making  treaties,  determining  the 
subject  matter,  and  proposing  and  agreeing  to  stipulations. 
Only  after  the  formal  draft  of  a  treaty  has  been  accepted  by 
the  President  is  it  submitted  to  the  Senate,  so  that  it  is  impos- 
sible for  that  body  to  dictate  a  treaty.  Moreover,  the  Presi- 
dent may  so  conduct  diplomatic  negotiations  as  to  force  the 
country  into  a  war,  without  any  possibility  of  hindrance  from 
Congress  or  the  Senate. 

While  in  the  conduct  of  negotiations  the  President  has  un- 
limited power,  formal  treaties  with  foreign  countries  can  be 
concluded  only  "by  and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 
Senate,  providing  two-thirds  of  the  Senate  present  concur.'* 
In  this  matter,  as  in  reference  to  appointments,  there  has  been 
some  question  as  to  the  rights  of  the  Senate  under  the  clause 
providing  for  its  advice  and  consent ;  and  the  established  prac- 
tice has  been  somewhat  different  in  the  case  of  treaties  from 
that  in  the  case  of  appointments. 

The  "advice"  of  the  Senate  as  a  body,  is  not  ordinarily 
called  for  or  given  before  a  formal  treaty  is  presented  for  its 
consent.  But  there  have  been  some  instances  of  this ;  while  it 
is  more  customary  for  members  of  the  Senate  committee  on 
foreign  relations  to  be  kept  informed  of  the  progress  of  impor- 
tant negotiations.  In  any  case,  however,  the  Senate  does  not 
consider  itself  bound  simply  to  accept  or  reject  a  proposed 
treaty;  but  has  on  various  occasions  introduced  amendments 
as  a  condition  of  its  consent.  When  the  Senate  makes  such 
amendments,  it  is  possible  for  the  President  to  abandon  the 
treaty,  if  he  prefers  such  action  to  further  negotiations  for 
the  amended  treaty.  If  the  President  accepts  the  Senate 
amendments,  it  is  necessary  to  carry  on  further  negotiations 
with  the  foreign  government  and  its  consent  to  the  changes 
before  the  treaty  is  definitely  concluded.  A  recent  notable 
instance  of  the  Senate's  influence  was  in  the  Hay-Pauncefote 
treaty  of  1900,  where  the  Senate's  amendments  led  to  renewed 
negotiations  and  the  drafting  of  a  new  treaty. 


THE  PBESIDENT—  II  31 

There  must  next  be  noted  the  influence  of  Congress  over 
treaties. 

"Our  constitution  declares  a  treaty  to  be  the  law  of  the  land.  It  is 
consequently  to  be  regarded  in  courts  of  justice  as  equivalent  to  an  act 
of  the  legislature,  whenever  it  operates  of  itself  without  the  aid  of  any 
legislative  provision.  But  when  the  terms  of  the  stipulation  import  a 
contract,  when  either  of  the  parties  engages  to  perform  a  particular  act, 
the  treaty  addresses  itself  to  the  political,  not  the  judicial  department, 
and  the  legislature  must  execute  the  contract  before  it  can  become  a  rule 
for  the  court.  '  n 

Most  generally  the  necessity  for  such  congressional  action 
arises  where  a  treaty  provides  for  a  payment  of  money,  which 
can  be  made  only  by  virtue  of  an  appropriation  regularly 
passed  by  both  houses  of  Congress. 

Where  a  treaty  and  a  statute  conflict,  which  prevails  over 
the  other?  It  has  been  clearly  decided  in  a  number  of  cases 
that  if  the  statute  is  later  in  date  the  courts  will  be  bound  by 
the  statute  when  it  conflicts  with  an  earlier  treaty. 

*  l  So  far  as  a  treaty  made  by  the  United  States  with  any  foreign  nation 
can  become  the  subject  of  judicial  cognizance  in  the  courts  of  this  coun- 
try, it  is  subject  to  such  acts  as  Congress  may  pass  for  its  enforcement, 
modification,  or  repeal.  ;  n 

Congress  has  thus  power  to  amend  the  provisions  of  a  treaty 
or  to  annul  a  treaty;  and  its  acts  for  these  purposes  will  be 
accepted  by  the  United  States  courts.  The  only  remedies  open 
to  a  foreign  government  are  those  for  the  violation  of  a  treaty, 
—a  protest,  and  in  the  last  resort,  war. 

If  the  treaty  is  later  in  date,  there  is  evidence  that  the  con- 
verse of  the  above  rule  would  also  apply.  For  in  deciding 
cases  under  the  rule  stated,  the  courts  have  based  their  judg- 
ments on  the  general  principle  that  the  later  expression  of 
law  should  prevail  over  the  earlier. 

'  '  By  the  constitution  a  treaty  is  placed  on  the  same  footing  and  made 
of  like  obligation  with  an  act  of  legislation.  Both  are  declared  by  that 
instrument  to  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land,  and  no  superior  efficacy  is 


v.  Neilson,  2  Peters,  253. 
2Head  Money  Case,  112  U.  S.  580,  597;  Whitney  v.  Kobertson,  124  U.  S. 
190;  Chinese  Exclusion  Cases,  130  U.  S.  600;  149  U.  S.  698. 


32  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

given  to  either  over  the  other.  ...  If  the  two  are  inconsistent,  the 
one  last  in  date  will  control,  providing  always  the  stipulation  of  the 
treaty  is  self  -executing.  'n 

But  the  application  of  this  rule  in  favor  of  a  treaty  con- 
flicting with  an  earlier  statute  does  not  seem  to  have  been  made 
as  yet. 

It  has  been  maintained  by  the  House  of  Representatives  that 
treaties  affecting  the  revenue  laws  do  not  go  into  effect  until 
authorized  by  an  Act  of  Congress;  and  this  claim  has  been 
admitted  on  several  occasions,  as  in  the  case  of  the  recent 
reciprocity  treaty  with  Cuba. 

The  execution  of  treaties,  so  far  as  it  is  not  dependent  on 
legislative  action,  comes— like  the  execution  of  other  laws — 
under  the  direction  of  the  President.  One  class  of  treaties— 
those  providing  for  the  extradition  of  criminals— generally 
impose  on  the  President  the  function  of  surrendering  fugitive 
criminals  to  foreign  powers.  An  exception  to  this  rule  is 
found  in  the  treaty  between  the  United  States  and  Mexico, 
which  authorizes  the  chief  executives  of  the  frontier  states  and 
territories  to  grant  extradition  in  some  cases.  But,  even  in 
these  cases,  the  President  may  intervene  and  make  the  final 
decision. 

As  a  matter  of  practice  the  warrant  of  surrender  for  extra- 
dited criminals  is  issued  not  by  the  President  in  person,  but 
by  the  secretary  of  state.  It  is  also  dependent  on  the  power 
of  judicial  magistrates  to  discharge  a  fugitive.  Formerly  it 
was  held  that  where  a  fugitive  was  committed  by  a  judicial 
magistrate  for  extradition,  the  action  of  the  executive  was 
purely  ministerial ;  but  more  recently  the  President  has  exer- 
cised discretionary  power  to  refuse  to  surrender  fugitives  even 
after  commitment.2 

Military  Powers.— The  President  is  by  the  constitution, 
commarider-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy,  and  also  of  the 
state  militia  when  in  the  service  of  the  United  States.  Con- 

1  Whitney  v.  Robertson,  124  U.  S.  190. 

*  J.  B.  Moore,  Extradition  and  Inter-State  Rendition,  I,  549,  555. 


THE  PRESIDENT— II  33 

gress,  however,  has  the  power  of  declaring  war  and  of  military 
legislation.  It  is  thus  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  draw  a 
strict  line  of  demarcation  between  the  authority  of  Congress 
and  that  of  the  President.  But  the  general  principles  of 
demarcation  can  be  indicated ;  and  in  practice  there  have  been 
very  few  important  conflicts.  Congress  regulates  whatever  is 
of  general  and  permanent  importance,  while  the  President 
determines  all  matters  temporary  and  not  general  in  their 
nature.  Thus  Congress  authorizes  the  total  number  of  men 
in  the  army,  their  distribution  among  the  different  branches 
of  the  service,  the  number  and  kind  of  arms,  the  location  and 
character  of  forts ;  and  the  President,  as  chief  executive,  must 
carry  out  the  statutes  on  these  matters.  But  the  President,  as 
commander-in-chief,  decides  where  the  different  parts  of  the 
army  and  navy  are  to  be  stationed  and  moved,  the  strength 
and  composition  of  garrisons  and  field  forces,  and  the  distri- 
bution of  arms  and  ammunition.  Congress  has  power  to 
declare  war  (although  hostilities  may  commence  without  such 
a  declaration),  and  decides  what  means  it  will  grant  to  conduct 
the  war ;  but  the  President  decides  in  what  way  the  war  shall 
be  conducted,  directs  campaigns  and  establishes  blockades,1  and 
also  may  do  whatever  is  necessary  to  weaken  the  fighting  power 
of  the  enemy.  It  was  on  this  last  ground  that  President  Lin- 
coln issued  the  emancipation  proclamation. 

The  war  power  of  the  President  is  not  limited  to  matters 
directly  involved  in  the  conduct  of  war,  but  extends  beyond 
purely  military  actions  to  the  domain  of  the  exceptional  rela- 
tions which  arise  as  a  result  of  war.  Thus  in  the  case  of  terri- 
tory conquered  or  occupied  in  war,  the  President  can  appoint 
a  military  governor  and  establish  a  military  government,  which 
may  end  only  upon  the  conclusion  of  peace,  and  (if  there  is 
ceded  territory)  upon  legislation  by  Congress.2  The  same 
power  was  exercised  over  the  territory  of  the  seceding  states, 
after  the  Civil  War.  In  both  cases,  too,  the  President  may 

^he  Prize  Cases,  2  Black,  635. 
*Cross  v.  Harrison,  16  Howard,  193. 


34  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

appoint  a  provisional  civil  government,  with  power  to  organize 
courts,  and  administrative  officials,  and  levy  taxes.  But  after 
the  ratification  of  a  treaty  ceding  territory,  neither  the  Presi- 
dent nor  a  government  established  under  his  military  powers, 
can  impose  tariff  duties  on  imports  into  the  ceded  territory 
from  the  United  States,  nor  on  imports  into  the  United  States 
from  the  ceded  territory.1 

How  far  the  military  powers  of  the  President  extend  over 
territory  not  directly  involved  in  the  military  operations  was 
a  subject  of  discussion  during  and  after  the  Civil  War.  At 
the  outset  of  the  war,  the  attorney-general  claimed  for  the 
President  the  right  to  refuse  obedience  to  a  writ  of  habeas 
corpus;  and  Lincoln  afterward  issued  a  proclamation  suspend- 
ing the  writ.  Later,  however,  the  suspension  of  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  was  authorized  by  Congress.  Numerous  mili- 
tary arrests  were  made  during  the  war,  not  only  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  military  operations,  but  also  in  the  northern  states, 
and  in  some  cases  hundreds  of  miles  distant  from  any  field  of 
action.  After  the  war  a  case  was  brought  to  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  involving  the  legality  of  military 
trials  and  punishment  of  civilians  under  such  circumstances; 
and  the  court  laid  down  the  rule  that  martial  law  should  be 
established  only  in  such  districts  of  the  home  country  where 
the  regular  courts  could  not  exercise  their  functions. 

' '  It  follows  from  what  has  been  said  on  this  subject  that  there  are  occa- 
sions when  martial  rule  can  be  properly  applied.  If,  in  foreign  invasion 
or  civil  war,  the  courts  are  actually  closed,  and  it  is  impossible  to  admin- 
ister criminal  justice  according  to  law,  then,  on  the  theater  of  active 
military  operations,  where  war  really  prevails,  there  is  a  necessity  to  fur- 
nish a  substitute  for  the  civil  authority,  thus  overthrown,  to  preserve  the 
safety  of  the  army  and  society ;  and  as  no  power  is  left  but  the  military, 
it  is  allowed  to  govern  by  martial  rule  until  the  laws  can  have  their  free 
course.  As  necessity  creates  the  rule,  so  it  limits  its  duration ;  for,  if  this 
government  is  continued  after  the  courts  are  reinstated,  it  is  a  gross 
usurpation  of  power.  Martial  rule  can  never  exist  where  the  courts  are 

3De  Lima  v.  Bidwell,  Dooley  v.  IT.  S.,  182  IT.  S.  1,  222;  Fourteen 
Diamond  Eings  v.  U.  S.,  183  U.  S.  176. 


THE  PRESIDENT— II  35 

open,  and  in  the  proper  and  unobstructed  exercise  of  their  jurisdiction. 
It  is  also  confined  to  the  locality  of  actual  war. ' n 

Chief  Justice  Chase  and  Justices  Wayne,  Swayne  and  Miller 
dissented  on  the  ground  that  in  time  of  war  Congress  had 
power  to  determine  the  districts  where  martial  law  should  be 
put  in  effect,  even  in  places  where  the  courts  were  in  operation. 
The  dissenting  opinion  also  pointed  out  the  difference  between 
military  law,  military  government  and  martial  law. 

It  is  worth  noting  that  the  rule  thus  laid  down  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  put  into  force.  The  judgment  of  the  court 
in  the  case  in  question  was  apparently  not  executed;  and  the 
question  may  therefore  be  raised  whether  the  opinion  of  the 
court  on  this  matter  has  the  sanction  necessary  to  constitute  a 
rule  of  law.  In  any  case  it  was  too  late  to  affect  the  powers 
exercised  by  President  Lincoln.  Nevertheless,  the  opinion  has 
value  as  showing  the  view  taken  by  the  Supreme  Court ;  and 
would  doubtless  have  a  strong  moral  influence  in  restraining  a 
future  President  from  exercising  similar  powers. 

While  the  President's  military  powers  become  vastly  more 
significant  during  the  conduct  of  war,  they  are  also  of  large 
importance  in  maintaining  internal  order  and  suppressing 
resistance  to  law  not  amounting  to  war.  For  these  latter 
purposes  the  army  is  actively  employed  under  two  sets  of 
conditions:  To  protect  a  state  against  domestic  violence,  as 
guaranteed  by  the  constitution ;  and  to  enforce  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  and  protect  the  instrumentalities  of  the  national 
government  against  unlawful  interference. 

The  constitutional  guarantee  to  protect  the  states  against 
domestic  violence  limits  its  application  to  cases  where  pro- 
tection is  sought  by  the  legislature  or  the  executive  of  the  state. 
The  guarantee  is,  however,  expressed  in  the  name  of  the  United 
States,  without  indicating  clearly  which  department  of  the 
national  government  is  entrusted  with  its  enforcement.  In 
reference  to  the  guarantee  of  a  republican  form  of  government, 
the  Supreme  Court  has  held  that  it  rests  with  Congress  to 

1  Ex  parte  Milligan,  4  Wallace,  2. 


36  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTBATION 

decide  what  is  the  established  government  in  a  state  and 
whether  it  is  republican  or  not.1  But  Congress  itself  has 
authorized  the  President  to  act  on  applications  from  a  state  to 
suppress  domestic  violence.  The  Militia  Act  of  1795  provided 
that: 

"In  case  of  an  insurrection  in  any  state  against  the  government 
thereof,  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  President  of  the  United  States,  on 
application  of  the  legislature  of  such  state,  or  of  the  executive  (when  the 
legislature  cannot  be  convened),  to  call  forth  such  number  of  the  militia 
of  any  other  state  or  states,  as  may  be  applied  for,  as  he  may  judge  suf- 
ficient to  suppress  such  insurrection. ; ' 

In  case  of  invasion  or  imminent  danger  of  invasion  from 
any  foreign  nation  or  Indian  tribe,  the  President  was  author- 
ized to  use  the  militia  without  application  from  the  state 
authorities.  The  Act  of  1807  authorized  the  use  of  the  land 
and  naval  forces  wherever  the  militia  had  been  authorized,  and 
the  Revised  Statutes  provide  for  the  use  either  of  the  army  and 
navy  or  of  state  militia  to  suppress  insurrection  within  a  state.2 

In  cases  of  domestic  violence  the  President  was  restricted  by 
the  condition  that  he  should  act  on  application  of  the  state 
authorities.  But  under  other  circumstances  he  was  authorized 
to  act  without  any  such  condition  expressed.  This  larger 
power  of  independent  action  was  provided  for,  on  the  one  hand 
in  cases  of  invasion  or  imminent  danger  of  invasion  and  on 
the  other  hand  in  cases  of  opposition  to  the  laws  of  the  United 
States.  The  former  class  of  cases  deal  distinctly  with  the  con- 
duct of  war,  which  has  already  been  considered.  In  reference 
to  the  latter,  it  is  important  to  notice  the  statutory  provisions 
and  questions  that  have  arisen  in  the  exercise  of  the  authority. 

The  Militia  Act  of  1795,  already  mentioned,  authorized  the 
President  to  call  out  the  militia  "whenever  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  shall  be  opposed,  or  the  execution  thereof 
obstructed,  in  any  state,  by  combinations  too  powerful  to  be 
suppressed  by  the  ordinary  course  of  judicial  proceedings,  or 

*  Luther  v.  Borden,  7  Howard,  1 ;  Texas  v.  White,  7  Wallace,  700. 
''Eevised  Statutes,  §  5298. 


THE  PBESIDENT— II  37 

by  the  powers  vested  in  the  marshals  by  this  act."  The  Act 
of  1807  authorized  the  use  of  the  army  and  navy  under  these 
same  circumstances.  Under  this  authority  troops  were  used 
on  various  occasions  to  overcome  resistance  to  the  internal 
revenue  laws1  and  for  other  purposes.  And  it  was  under  these 
provisions  that  President  Lincoln  issued  his  first  call  for 
militia.  By  the  Act  of  July  29,  1861,  the  authority  of  the 
President  was  increased ;  and  he  was  authorized  to  use  the 
militia  or  the  army  and  navy  ' '  whenever,  by  reason  of  unlaw- 
ful obstructions,  or  assemblages  of  persons,  or  rebellion  against 
the  authority  of  the  government  of  the  United  States,  it  shall 
become  impracticable,  in  the  judgment  of  the  President,  to 
enforce  by  the  ordinary  course  of  judicial  proceedings  the  laws 
of  the  United  States  within  any  state  or  territory. ' ' 

This  provision  in  the  statutes  has  been  continued  since  the 
Civil  War;  and  even  after  the  process  of  reconstructing  the 
southern  states  was  accomplished  national  troops  were  stationed 
in  these  states  and  employed  especially  in  enforcing  the  na- 
tional laws  regulating  the  elections  for  presidential  electors  and 
members  of  Congress,  commonly  known  as  the  force  bills.  But 
opposition  in  Congress  to  this  policy  prevented  the  passage  of 
the  Army  Appropriation  bill  in  1877  until  four  months  after 
the  expiration  of  the  former  appropriation,  and  led  to  the 
adoption  next  year  of  a  statutory  provision  to  limit  the  use  of 
troops.  The  Army  Appropriation  Act  of  1878  provided  that 
1 '  from  and  after  the  passage  of  this  act  it  shall  not  be  lawful  to 
employ  any  part  of  the  army  of  the  United  States  as  a  posse 
comitatus,  or  otherwise,  for  the  purpose  of  executing  the  laws, 
except  in  such  cases  and  under  such  circumstances  as  such 
employment  of  said  force  may  be  expressly  authorized  by  the 
Constitution  or  by  act  of  Congress." 

Among  the  purposes  for  which  the  use  of  the  army  and  navy 
is  expressly  authorized  by  acts  of  Congress  are :  in  reference  to 
Indian  affairs,  the  protection  of  the  public  lands,  the  execution 

*E.  g.  The  Whiskey  Rebellion  in  Pennsylvania,  See  16  Opin.  Atty.- 
Gen.  162. 


38  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTBATION 

of  neutrality  laws,  the  protection  of  merchant  marine  and  the 
suppression  of  piracy,  the  enforcement  of  judicial  proceedings 
and  the  suppression  of  insurrections  or  unlawful  combinations 
obstructing  the  laws  of  the  United  States.1 

During  the  railroad  strikes  of  1894  United  States  troops 
were  employed  without  request  from  the  state  governments  to 
a  much  larger  extent  than  formerly.  The  Governor  of  Illinois 
protested  against  action  ignoring  the  state  government ;  but  it 
was  shown  that  the  employment  of  the  troops  was  in  accordance 
with  the  constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States.2 

They  were  used  to  enforce  the  laws  prohibiting  the  ob- 
struction of  the  mails  and  conspiracies  against  inter-state  com- 
merce,3 and  to  secure  the  execution  of  judicial  processes  of  the 
United  States  courts.  The  broader  scope  of  action  at  this 
time  was  due  in  part  to  a  new  interpretation  as  to  what  con- 
stituted an  obstruction  of  the  postal  service.  Formerly  where 
strikers  had  cut  out  passenger  and  baggage  cars  from  a  mail 
train,  but  did  not  directly  prevent  the  movement  of  the  postal 
cars,  it  had  been  assumed  that  they  were  not  obstructing  the 
postal  service.  But  it  was  now  held  that  interference  with  any 
part  of  a  mail  train  constituted  an  obstruction  to  the  postal 
service.  Another  factor,  however,  in  the  extension  of  the  field 
for  the  employment  of  the  army  was  the  recent  statute  pro- 
hibiting conspiracies  against  inter-state  commerce. 

The  interpretation  of  President  Cleveland  as  to  the  powers 
and  duty  of  the  executive  under  the  circumstances  was 
approved  by  the  Supreme  Court4  and  by  the  Senate  and  House 
of  Kepresentatives  in  resolutions  adopted  by  both  bodies. 

1Bevised  Statutes,  §§  2118-2152,  2460,  4293,  4792, 5275,  5286,  5297-5299. 

'McClure's  Magazine,  vol.  23,  227. 

'Rev.  Stat.  §  3995 ;  Act  of  July  2,  1890. 

•In  re  Debs,  158  U.  S.  581: 

' '  If  all  the  inhabitants  of  a  state,  or  even  a  great  body  of  them,  should 
combine  to  obstruct  inter-state  commerce  or  the  transportation  of  the 
mails,  prosecutions  for  such  offenses  had  in  such  a  community  would  be 
doomed  in  advance  to  failure.  And  if  the  certainty  of  such  failure  was 
known  and  the  national  government  had  no  other  way  to  enforce  the  free- 


THE  PEESIDENT— II  39 

The  Pardoning  Power.— The  President  is  empowered  by  the 
constitution,  "to  grant  reprieves  and  pardons  for  offenses 
against  the  United  States,  except  in  cases  of  impeachment. " 
A  pardon  has  been  defined  by  Chief  Justice  Marshall,  as  "an 
act  of  grace,  proceeding  from  the  power  entrusted  with  the 
execution  of  the  laws,  which  exempts  the  individual,  on  whom 
it  is  bestowed,  from  the  punishment  the  law  inflicts  for  a  crime 
he  has  committed."1  It  will  be  noted  that  the  President's 
power  to  pardon  is  limited  to  offenses  against  the  United 
States.  But  as  to  these  offenses  the  power  is  complete.  He 
can  remit  every  punishment  from  a  money  penalty  up  to  and 
including  the  death  penalty.  In  a  few  respects,  however,  a 
pardon  does  not  annul  all  the  legal  consequences  of  a  sentence. 
In  cases  of  forfeiture,  so  far  as  others  have  acquired  a  legal 
right  to  the  goods  forfeited,  the  pardon  remains  inoperative; 
and  a  pardon  does  not  effect  reinstatement  in  a  forfeited  office.2 
A  pardon  may  be  granted  on  certain  conditions ;  and  a  remis- 
sion of  part  of  a  sentence  is  regarded  as  a  conditional  par- 
don.3 But  a  penalty  of  an  entirely  different  kind  from  the 
one  imposed  cannot  be  inflicted  by  a  pardon.  The  power  of 
pardon  may  be  exercised  at  any  time  after  the  offense  has  been 
committed,  either  before  legal  proceedings  are  taken,  or  during 
their  progress,  or  after  conviction  and  judgment.4  Presidents 

dom  of  inter-state  commerce  and  the  transportation  of  the  mails  than  by 
prosecution  and  punishment  for  interference  therewith,  the  whole  inter- 
ests of  the  nation  in  these  respects  would  be  at  the  absolute  mercy  of  a 
portion  of  the  inhabitants  of  a  single  State. 

''But  there  is  no  such  impotency  in  the  national  government.  The 
entire  strength  of  the  nation  may  be  used  to  enforce  in  any  part  of  the 
land  the  full  and  free  exercise  of  all  national  powers  and  the  security  of 
all  rights  entrusted  by  the  constitution  to  its  cares.  The  strong  arm  of 
the  national  government  may  be  put  forth  to  brush  away  all  obstructions 
to  the  freedom  of  inter-state  commerce  or  the  transportation  of  the  mails. 
If  the  emergency  arises,  the  army  of  the  nation,  and  all  its  militia,  are  at 
the  service  of  the  nation  to  compel  obedience  to  its  laws. ; ' 

1  United  States  v.  Wilson,  7  Peters,  150,  159. 

2Von  Hoist,  Constitutional  Law,  p.  210. 

'Ex  parte  Wells,  18  Howard,  307. 

*Ex  parte  Garland,  4  Wallace,  333,  380. 


40  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

have  also  Issued  general  pardons,  or  amnesties,  to  a  class  of 
offenders  without  designating  particular  individuals  by  name. 

In  the  exercise  of  these  pardoning  powers  the  President  is 
subject  to  no  legal  control.  Congress  has  attempted  to  restrict 
the  practical  effect  of  a  general  amnesty,  by  a  statute  declaring 
that  the  acceptance  of  a  pardon  should  be  conclusive  evidence 
of  guilt,  and  persons  thus  established  as  guilty  should  be  pre- 
cluded from  enforcing  certain  legal  rights  and  claims  against 
the  government.  But  the  Supreme  Court  pronounced  this 
statute  null  and  void,  because  it  invaded  the  exclusive  province 
of  the  President  by  restricting  the  force  and  effect  of  the  power 
of  pardon,  and  also  of  the  judiciary  by  changing  the  legal 
import  of  their  judgments.1  The  only  remedy  against  the 
gross  abuse  of  the  pardoning  power  is  the  right  of  impeach- 
ment. 

Limitations  on  Presidential  Power.— This  discussion  has 
shown  that  the  President  has  the  means  of  exercising  a  thor- 
ough and  far-reaching  control  over  every  branch  of  the  national 
administration,  with  still  further  authority  over  certain  par- 
ticular administrative  services.  A  brief  space  may  now  be 
given  to  the  limitations  on  his  authority. 

Attention  has  already  been  called  to  the  limitations  imposed 
by  the  executive  powers  of  the  Senate  over  appointments  and 
treaties.  Congress  has  also  important  means  of  controlling 
the  administration  and  so  limiting  the  President's  powers. 
The  effective  methods  of  congressional  control  are  through  the 
details  of  statutes,  and  especially  through  the  minute  enumera- 
tion of  items  in  appropriation  bills.  These  methods  are  made 
use  of  much  more  effectively  by  Congress  than  by  legislative 
bodies  in  other  countries ;  and  close  obedience  to  the  statutes  is 
aided  by  the  system  of  reports  to  Congress  and  investigations 
into  the  different  branches  of  administration  by  congressional 
committees.  But  permanent  statutes  cannot  deal  with  current 
problems  of  administration ;  and  even  in  the  field  of  expendi- 
ture, the  custom  of  permanent  appropriations  for  certain  lines 
1U.  S.  v.  Klein,  13  Wallace,  128. 

• 


THE  PEESIDENT— II  41 

of  public  work  is  being  extended,  and  to  that  extent  relieving 
the  administration  from  the  control  of  each  particular 
Congress. 

By  far  the  most  important  limitation  on  the  President's 
administrative  powers  is  the  restricted  scope  of  national  powers 
and  national  administration.  The  large  powers  reserved  to 
the  states  take  out  of  the  control  of  the  national  government 
many  administrative  services  which  in  other  countries  are 
either  in  the  immediate  management  of  the  central  govern- 
ment, or  under  its  supervision.  But  in  this  country,  both  state 
and  local  administration  are  entirely  beyond  the  powers  of  the 
President. 

In  spite  of  these  limitations  the  President's  powers  are  of 
more  importance  than  those  possessed  by  the  chief  executives 
of  most  modern  governments ;  and  certainly  within  the  sphere 
of  national  administration  his  effective  personal  authority  is 
of  more  value  than  that  of  most  constitutional  monarchs  of 
Europe,  or  even  of  their  prime  ministers. 

It  remains  to  note  briefly  the  forms  of  presidential  action, 
and  the  legal  remedies  against  an  unconstitutional  exercise  of 
power  by  the  President. 

Forms  of  Presidential  Action.— The  acts  through  which  the 
President  exercises  his  powers  are  of  two  classes :  those  laying 
down  general  rules  affecting  numbers  of  persons  under  differ- 
jmt  circumstances;  and  those  of  special  application  to  par- 
ticular individuals.  Of  the  former,  three  kinds  may  be  noted : 
Announcements  and  decisions  of  the  widest  interest  and  broad- 
est scope  are  issued  by  proclamations,  intended  for  general 
circulation.  Matters  of  less  importance,  but  affecting  both 
government  officials  and  private  citizens,  are  dealt  with  in 
regulations  or  rules;  while  general  orders  directed  mainly  or 
exclusively  to  government  officials  are  known  as  instructions. 
These  different  forms  bear  no  relation  to  the  sources  of  presi- 
dential authority ;  but  each  of  them  is  used  in  the  exercise  of 
different  powers.  Thus,  proclamations  are  issued  by  virtue  of 
specific  statutory  provisions,  or  in  the  discharge  of  constitu- 


42  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

tional  powers,  or  even  for  such  extra-legal  acts  as  the  announce- 
ment of  the  annual  Thanksgiving  Day.  Acts  of  special 
application  may  be,— directions  or  orders  issued  to  the  head  of 
a  department ;  decisions  on  such  appeals  as  go  to  the  President. 
or  on  matters  requiring  his  approval ;  or  commissions  appoint- 
ing persons  to  office. 

Remedies  Against  the  Action  of  the  President.— There  seem 
to  be  only  two  legal  methods  of  directly  restraining  the  per- 
sonal action  of  the  President :  the  cumbrous  process  of  impeach- 
ment, and  the  negative  control  exercised  by  the  courts  in 
declining  to  enforce  unconstitutional  orders  and  regulations. 

In  the  case  of  Marbury  v .  Madison,  Chief  Justice  Marshall 
pronounced  the  dictum,  that  so  far  as  his  political  or  discretion- 
ary powers  were  concerned,  no  action  could  be  maintained 
against  the  President. 

"It  is  scarcely  necessary  for  the  court  to  disclaim  all  pretensions  to 
such  a  jurisdiction.  An  extravagance  so  absurd  and  excessive  could  not 
have  been  entertained  for  a  moment.  The  province  of  the  courts  is  solely 
to  decide  on  the  rights  of  individuals,  not  to  inquire  how  the  executive  or 
executive  officers  perform  duties  in  which  they  have  a  discretion.  Ques- 
tions in  their  nature  political,  or  which  are  by  the  constitution  and  laws 
submitted  to  the  executive,  can  never  be  made  in  this  court. ' n 

"The  executive  power  is  vested  in  a  President,  and  as  far  as  his 
powers  are  derived  from  the  constitution,  he  is  beyond  the  reach  of  any 
other  department,  except  in  the  mode  prescribed  by  the  constitution 
through  the  impeaching  power. '  '2 

No  case  has  yet  arisen  where  the  courts  have  attempted  to 
control  the  acts  of  the  President  where  this  would  bring  them 
into  direct  conflict  with  him.  The  Supreme  Court  has  refused 
to  consider  the  question  of  issuing  an  injunction  against  the 
President  to  restrain  him  from  enforcing  a  law  alleged  to  be 
unconstitutional.3  And  when  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  was 
opposed  by  the  orders  of  the  President,  the  court  declined  to 
take  further  action.4 

^Cranch,  170. 

'Kendall  v.  United  States,  12  Peters,  524,  610 
'Mississippi  v.  Johnson,  4  Wallace,  475. 
*Ex  parte  Merryman,  Taney,  246. 


THE  PEESIDENT— II  43 

This  attitude  of  the  courts  is,  however,  of  less  significance 
than  might  be  supposed,  owing  to  the  fact  that  the  President 
acts  in  large  measure  through  the  administrative  officials  of  all 
grades.  Over  all  such  officials,  including  the  heads  of  depart- 
ments, the  courts  freely  exercise  control.1  They  not  only  re- 
fuse to  enforce  unconstitutional  orders,  but  also  use  their  more 
emphatic  mandatory  and  prohibitory  powers  of  administrative 
jurisdiction.  Nor  does  an  unconstitutional  or  illegal  order  of 
the  President  serve  to  protect  any  officer  from  the  judgment  of 
the  judiciary. 

1 U.  S.  v.  Schurz,  102  U.  S.  378. 


CHAPTER    III 

THE  SENATE  AND  CONGRESS 

References. — GOODNOW:  Comparative  Administrative  Law,  I,  102-106; 
II,  262-302. — BRYCE:  American  Commonwealth,  I,  106-110,  208-214, 
278-289. — STORY:  Commentaries  on  the  Constitution,  II,  173-279. — 
DUPRIEZ:  Les  Ministres,  II,  95-117. — DE  CHAMBRUN:  Le  Pouvoir 
Executif  dans  les  Etats  Unis,  107-135,  320-345. — North  American 
Seview,  167:47,  176.— Forum,  31:423.— A tlantic  Monthly,  68:227; 
92:433. — American  Law  Review,  28:276. — Scribner's  Magazine, 
34:541. 

IT  is  not  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  to  discuss  the  organiza- 
tion and  legislative  powers  of  the  two  houses  of  Congress,  nor 
to  examine  in  detail  their  methods  of  procedure.  These  are 
important  topics  in  a  study  of  the  constitutional  system  and 
the  working  of  political  institutions.  But  the  legislative  bodies 
are  of  interest  here  only  in  their  4irectj*elations  to  the  national 
administration ;  and  it  is  solely  in  this  aspect  that  they  will  be 
considered.  This  will  include  an  examination  of  the  special 
executive  powers  of  the  Senate,  and  of  the  methods  by  which 
Congress  exercises  control  over  the  administration. 

THE  SENATE  AS  EXECUTIVE  COUNCIL 

In  the  national  government  of  the  United  States  the  Senate 
is  at  the  same  time  a  branch  of  the  legislature  and  an  executive 
council.  In  combining  these  two  elements  it  resembles  the 
German  Bundesrath ;  although  its  executive  functions  are  dis- 
tinctly different  from  those  of  the  German  institution,  and  also 
different  from  those  of  executive  councils  in  other  countries. 
These  councils  in  other  countries,  while  varying  widely  in 
organization,  agree  in  having  for  their  principal  administrative 
work  the  exercise  of  a  large  ordinance  power,  supplementing 
the  statutes  of  the  legislature.  Such  ordinances  are  formally 

44 


THE  SENATE  AND  CONGRESS  45 

enacted  by  the  British  Privy  Council  and  the  German  Bundes- 
rath ;  while  the  detailed  work  of  preparing  administrative  ordi- 
nances form  the  largest  share  of  the  duties  of  the  body  of  legal 
experts  who  compose  the  French  Council  of  State. 

No  such  ordinance  power  is  conferred  on  the  United  States 
Senate.  But  in  other  ways  it  has  important  administrative 
powers,  in  addition  to  its  share,  as  one  branch  of  Congress,  in 
the  legislative  control  over  the  administration.  These  special 
administrative  powers  are  clearly  distinguished  from  its  legis- 
lative functions  by  a  striking  difference  in  procedure.  In 
legislative  matters  the  Senate,  like  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, holds  public  sessions;  but  when  exercising  these  special 
powers  it  meets  in  executive  session,  with  closed  doors.  More- 
over, the  Senate  may,  and  often  does,  sit  as  an  executive  council 
at  times  when  the  House  of  Representatives  is  not  in  session. 

These  special  administrative  powers  of  the  Senate  have 
already  been  noted  in  considering  the  limitations  in  some  of 
the  President's  powers.  But  it  will  serve  to  make  clear  the 
position  of  the  Senate  if  they  are  grouped  together. 

In  the  first  place,  the  Senate  has  some  control  over  the  per- 
sonnel of  the  administration  by  the  power  of  approving  or 
rejecting  the  nominations  of  the  President  to  the  more  impor- 
tant positions  in  the  administrative  service.  During  the 
regime  of  the  Tenure  of  Office  acts,  it  also  was  able  to  control 
removals;  and  then  could  exercise  control  over  the  adminis- 
trative officers  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties;  but  since  the 
repeal  of  these  acts  this  power  is  no  longer  held.  The  power  of 
confirming  or  rejecting  appointments  is,  however,  actively  used 
by  the  Senate.  Except  in  the  contest  with  President  Johnson, 
the  President  has  been  left  free  to  choose  the  members  of  his 
cabinet ;  but  for  all  other  officers  the  Senate  exercises  its  power 
to  reject  a  nomination  on  any  ground  it  pleases,  while  through 
the  development  of  what  is  known  as  the  "courtesy  of  the 
Senate,"  the  Senators  from  each  state  when  they  belong  to  the 
same  political  party  as  the  President  generally  control  the 


46  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

nominations  to  local  offices  of  the  national  government  within 
their  own  state. 

In  the  second  place,  the  Senate  has  the  very  important  power 
over  the  approval  of  treaties.  By  the  constitution,  every 
treaty  negotiated  by  the  President  must  be  accepted  by  two- 
thirds  of  the  Senators  present  when  the  vote  is  taken  before  it 
becomes  the  law  of  the  land.  We  have  already  noted  that  the 
preliminary  negotiations  are  conducted  under  the  control  of 
the  President  subject  to  no  active  interference  by  the  Senate. 
In  practice,  however,  the  need  for  securing  the  approval  of  the 
Senate  makes  it  advisable  that  on  the  most  important  matters 
the  Senate  committee  on  Foreign  Affairs  be  kept  informed  of 
the  progress  of  negotiations.  There  have  also  been  some  cases 
when  a  formal  report  of  negotiations  has  been  made  and  the 
advice  of  the  Senate  has  been  asked  for,  before  the  treaty  was 
framed. 

When  the  treaty  is  arranged  by  the  negotiators,  it  is  trans- 
mitted to  the  Senate  with  all  the  documents  pertaining  to  the 
subject.  The  matter  is  then  referred  to  the  committee  on 
Foreign  Affairs,  which  makes  a  careful  study  of  the  question. 
This  committee  is  always  composed  of  the  strongest  members  of 
the  Senate,  leaders  in  both  parties,  and  its  membership  changes 
very  slowly.  Its  chairman  is  next  to  the  President  and  the 
Secretary  of  State  the  most  important  factor  in  the  treaty- 
making  power,  and  may  be  superior  to  them  owing  to  his  long- 
continued  experience  and  his  influence  in  the  Senate.  The 
committee  may  kill  a  treaty  by  failure  to  report  on  it;  or  it 
may  report  favorably,  unfavorably,  or  suggest  amendments. 
When  a  report  is  made,  the  matter  comes  before  the  whole 
Senate  for  discussion.  Generally  the  report  of  the  committee 
is  adopted,— thus  showing  the  influence  of  the  members,  which 
is  sufficient  to  secure  the  necessary  two-thirds  vote  for  ratifica- 
tion. Frequently,  however,  this  action  does  not  confirm  the 
treaty  negotiated  by  the  President.  Many  treaties  have  been 
rejected  outright :  for  example,  those  annexing  San  Domingo, 
purchasing  the  Danish  West  Indies,  and  the  arbitration  treaty 


THE   SENATE  AND  CONGEESS  47 

with  Great  Britain.  Still  more  common  is  the  adoption  of 
amendments  which  the  Senate  names  as  conditions  of  its 
approval. 

These  executive  powers  of  the  Senate  are  clearly  an  impor- 
tant exception  to  the  strict  application  of  the  theory  of  the 
separation  of  powers.  And,  indeed,  this  exception  is  so  evident 
that  it  is  usual  to  speak  of  the  Senate  as  both  a  legislative  and 
an  executive  body.  To  this  combination  of  functions,  with  the 
long  terms  and  continuous  service  of  the  Senators,  has  been 
due,  in  large  measure,  the  dominance  of  the  Senate  in  legis- 
lation. 

CONGRESSIONAL  CONTROL. 

^  . 

Over  and  above  the  special  executive  powers  of  the  Senate 
both  houses  of  Congress,  acting  in  their  regular  method  of 
procedure,  exercise  a  large  control  over  the  national  adminis- 
trative services.  This  is  done  by  means  of  reports,  investiga- 
tions, the  details  of  statutes,  the  control  of  finances,  and  in 
extreme  cases  by  the  process  of  impeachment. 

In  the  constitution  it  is  expressly  provided  that  the  Presi- 
dent "shall  from  time  to  time  give  to  the  Congress  information 
of  the  state  of  the  Union. "  Each  year  at  the  beginning  of  the 
regular  session  of  Congress  he  addresses  to  both  houses  a  mes- 
sage in  which  he  discusses  administrative  and  political  matters 
and  expresses  his  views  on  proposed  legislation.  The  Presi- 
dent 's  message  is  accompanied  by  elaborate  reports  from  each 
of  the  heads  of  the  executive  departments.  The  statutes 
require  these  department  reports  to  be  made,  and  to  present 
detailed  information  as  to  the  expenditures  for  the  department, 
the  employees  and  their  services,  and  in  general  to  give  a 
complete  report  of  the  operations  of  the  department  for  tfye 
year  past. 

In  addition  to  these  regular  reports,  the  houses  of  Congress 
may  make  requests  to  the  President  or  the  department  secre- 
taries for  documents  and  further  information  on  any  special 
subject.  But  in  this  case  they  do  not  have  the  right  nor  the 


48  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

means  of  enforcing  an  answer.  The  President  may  refuse  to 
answer  on  the  strength  of  his  independent  position,  and  the 
department  secretaries  will  obey  the  orders  of  the  President. 
These  requests  for  information  are  made  not  by  individual 
members,  but  in  the  name  of  one  or  other  house.  Any  member 
may,  of  course,  present  inquiries  at  any  department  office ;  but 
these  are  purely  personal  affairs  which  can  be  refused  readily. 
On  a  question  of  some  importance  on  which  full  details  are 
sought,  the  member  must  first  propose  his  request  in  the  House 
and  have  it  approved  there.  The  request  is  then  transmitted 
by  the  appropriate  standing  committee  to  the  department  con- 
cerned, which  sends  the  answer  (with  or  without  the  informa- 
tion) either  to  the  committee  or  direct  to  the  speaker  of  the 
House. 

These  regular  and  special  reports  from  the  departments  to 
the  Congress  serve  two  purposes:  they  give  the  houses  know- 
ledge of  the  needs  of  the  country  and  the  administrative  serv- 
ices ;  and  they  allow  Congress  to  control  the  administration  in 
the  smallest  details,  by  informing  the  committees  of  matters 
which  can  be  regulated  and  changed  by  statute. 

If  either  house  of  Congress  wishes  to  make  a  more  thorough 
investigation  of  the  conduct  of  the  President  or  any  adminis- 
trative official,  they  can  appoint  an  investigation  committee, 
with  power  to  collect  documents,  to  hear  witnesses  and  to  invite 
the  department  heads  before  them.  But  such  a  committee 
cannot  give  orders  to  a  department  secretary,  nor  even  insist 
on  their  attendance,  although  in  fact  they  usually  appear. 
The  committee  can  only  present  questions,  which  the  depart- 
ment head  may  avoid  or  even  refuse  outright  to  answer ;  but 
again,  in  most  cases  the  answers  and  information  sought  for 
will  be  given. 

These  means  of  control  serve,  doubtless,  to  prevent  and 
detect  misconduct  and  malfeasance  in  office,  which  might  occur 
if  the  departments  were  independent  of  all  supervision.  They 
also  at  times  subject  the  administrative  officials  to  petty  annoy- 
ances, can  hinder  their  action,  and  secure  compromises  on 


THE  SENATE  AND  CONGEESS  49 

questions  of  detail.  But  they  cannot  transfer  the  control  over 
administrative  policy  from  the  President  to  Congress. 

Either  house  of  Congress,  or  both  houses  jointly,  may  pass 
resolutions  calling  on  the  President  or  the  department  heads 
to  take  certain  steps,  or  disapproving  actions  that  have  been 
taken.  But  such  resolutions  have  no  direct  effect  on  the 
administration.  They  do  not  shorten  the  term  of  the  Presi- 
dent or  any  officer,  nor  limit  their  discretion;  and  they  need 
not  be  obeyed  or  even  noticed.  The  Senate  adopted  a  resolu- 
tion of  censure  against  President  Jackson.  But  this  did  not 
in  the  least  alter  his  course.  Indeed,  he  vigorously  contested 
its  constitutionality,  and  three  years  later  when  he  had  a 
majority  of  the  Senate  the  resolution  of  censure  was  expunged 
from  the  records. 

A  more  serious  restriction  on  the  President  and  the  admin- 
istrative service  is  that  exercised  by  the  statutes.  These,  of 
course,  bind  the  administrative  officials  in  the  discharge  of 
their  duties ;  and  the  statutes  enter  into  such  minute  detail  that 
they  impose  important  limitations  on  the  powers  of  officials 
compared  with  those  in  other  countries.  The  elaborate  com- 
mittee organization  serves  to  aid  Congress  in  this  work.  The 
houses  could  not  enter  into  such  details  on  all  measures  but  for 
the  fact  that  each  committee  makes  a  special  study  of  the 
administration  of  the  bureaus  under  its  supervision,  and  elabo- 
rates the  bills  governing  the  bureau  to  carry  out  their  ideas. 

In  addition  to  the  control  exercised  by  existing  statutes, 
Congress  may  enact  a  law  requiring  the  President  or  any  offi- 
cial to  do  or  to  abstain  from  doing  certain  acts  hitherto  left  to 
his  free  will  and  judgment.  Such  a  bill  might  be  vetoed  by 
the  President ;  so  that  it  could  become  law  only  by  a  two-thirds 
vote  in  each  house. 

Congress  also  exercises  control  over  the  administration 
through  its  control  of  the  finances,  in  passing  revenue  and 
appropriation  laws  and  in  auditing  expenditures.  Financial 
measures  are  enacted  as  statutes  in  the  same  manner  as  other 
bills.  And  in  framing  such  bills  and  adapting  them  to  their 
4 


50  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTBATION 

final  form,  the  determining  authorities  are  the  finance  com- 
mittees of  the  two  houses,  with  their  chairmen  as  the  most 
important  factors.  The  proposals  of  the  departments  are 
never  more  than  a  basis  for  the  measures  as  passed ;  and  often 
the  statutes  bear  little  resemblance  to  the  original  proposals. 

Each  successive  Congress  does  not  exercise  its  control  over 
revenues  to  the  fullest  extent  possible.  In  Great  Britain  and 
other  countries  some  of  the  important  revenue  laws  are  enacted 
only  for  one  year  at  a  time,  and  must  be  renewed  annually. 
In  the  United  States  national  government,  however,  customs 
duties,  internal  revenue  taxes,  post-office  receipts,  and,  in  fact, 
all  of  the  revenues  are  collected  under  standing  laws,  which 
remain  in  force  until  altered.  If  no  positive  action  is  taken 
by  Congress  the  revenue  will  continue  to  be  collected  as  pre- 
scribed in  laws  passed  previously. 

More  direct  and  continuous  control  is  exercised  by  means  of 
the  appropriation  bills.  By  withholding  supplies  Congress 
can  check  any  plan  favored  by  the  President  which  requires 
the  expenditure  of  money ;  and  as  appropriations  are  made  in 
great  detail,  it  can,  by  reducing  the  grant  for  any  particular 
bureau,  limit  its  activities  or  even  cause  its  practical  abandon- 
ment. This  was  done  with  the  first  Civil  Service  Commission, 
appointed  by  President  Grant;  and  numerous  unsuccessful 
attempts  have  been  made  to  repeat  this  action  with  the  present 
commission.  So,  too,  by  cutting  off  army  appropriations  any 
attempt  on  the  part  of  the  President  grossly  to  abuse  his  con- 
trol of  the  army  might  be  limited.  And,  as  has  been  noted, 
the  House  of  Representatives  might  negative  the  execution  of 
a  treaty  confirmed  by  the  Senate  by  refusing  to  make  an  appro- 
priation. 

Positive  control  is  exercised  by  making  appropriations  for 
items  not  in  the  department  estimates,  or  even  in  the  face  of 
the  open  disapproval  of  the  department  concerned.  This  has 
often  been  done  in  connection  with  river  and  harbor  improve- 
ments, and  also  in  requiring  the  department  of  Agriculture  to 
continue  the  free  distribution  of  seeds. 


THE  SENATE  AND  CONGRESS  51 

Important  branches  of  the  national  administration  are, 
however,  relieved  from  the  detailed  control  of  each  succeeding 
Congress  by  the  system  of  permanent  appropriations.  The 
salary  of  the  President  and  of  the  United  States  judges  have 
always  been  secured  from  frequent  changes  by  the  constitu- 
tional provision  that  they  may  not  be  reduced  during  the  term 
for  which  any  of  these  officers  are  chosen.  Payments  for 
interest  and  principal  of  the  national  debt  are  provided  for  by 
permanent  statutes ;  and  also  for  the  customs  service,  and,  in 
recent  years,  for  some  river  and  harbor  works.  Under  acts  of 
1878  and  1890  the  purchase  of  silver  bullion  as  a  basis  for  cur- 
rency was  required,  until  the  repeal  of  the  latter  in  1893. 
Moreover,  by  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court,  naming  a 
fixed  salary  for  an  office  is  regarded  much  as  a  permanent 
appropriation  j1  although  in  this  case  a  suit  would  have  to  be 
brought  in  the  Court  of  Claims,  and  in  case  of  judgment  the 
amount  could  be  collected  only  from  the  appropriation  for  the 
payment  of  private  claims. 

But  the  control  which  can  be  exercised  in  these  ways  is 
limited.  It  is  impossible  by  any  of  these  means  to  compel 
the  President  to  act  as  Congress  wishes  in  a  matter  that  is 
within  the  constitutional  powers  of  the  President.  Thus,  when 
President  Buchanan  declined  to  use  the  army  against  the 
seceding  states,  Congress  could  do  nothing. 

In  England  the  system  of  ministerial  responsibility  was 
developed  from  the  power  of  the  House  of  Commons  over  the 
purse ;  by  its  refusal  to  vote  supplies  to  a  ministry  which  would 
not  carry  out  its  wishes.  But  that  course  is  not  possible  in 
this  country.  To  withhold  the  appropriations  and  thus  stop 
the  machinery  of  government  would  injure  the  country  and  the 
members  of  Congress  far  more  than  the  President.  They  can- 
not refuse  to  vote  the  salary  to  the  President,  for  that  is  guar- 
anteed to  him  by  the  constitution.  The  attempt  has,  however, 
been  made  to  use  the  money  power  of  Congress  to  coerce  the 
President  in  another  way;  by  attaching  as  "riders"  to  the 

1 U.  S.  v.  Langston,  118  U.  S.  389. 


\ 


52  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

appropriation  bills,  items  of  general  legislation  which  the 
President  would  veto  if  presented  as  separate  bills.  But  in 
1879  President  Hayes  vetoed  appropriation  bills  to  which 
riders  were  attached;  and  threw  the  responsibility  back  on 
Congress,  so  that  they  were  compelled  to  repass  the  appropria- 
tions without  the  riders. 

Congress  also  confirms  its  control  over  appropriations  by 
examining  the  accounts  of  the  various  departments.  Each 
department  submits  full  financial  reports  to  Congress  at  the 
end  of  the  year;  while  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  reports 
on  the  entire  receipts  and  expenditures  for  the  preceding  year. 
The  rules  of  the  House  of  Representatives  provide  that  such 
accounts  go  to  the  Speaker,  and  are  submitted  by  him  to  the 
House.  The  various  accounts  are  then  referred  to  one  or  other 
of  the  standing  committees  on  expenditure,  which  examine 
them  as  to  their  conformity  to  the  appropriation  laws,  their 
justness  and  correctness,  the  accountability  of  public  officers, 
and  the  possibility  of  retrenchment.  Each  committee  reports 
to  the  house  on  the  accounts  referred  to  it. 

There  remains  as  the  final  method  of  congressional  control 
over  the  administration  the  process  of  impeachment.  Under 
the  constitution  an  impeachment  trial  can  be  held  of  the  Presi- 
dent, Yice-President,  or  any  of  the  executive  or  judicial  officers 
of  the  national  government.  The  House  of  Representatives 
presents  the  indictment ;  and  the  Senate  acts  as  a  court,  a  vote 
of  two-thirds  being  necessary  to  convict.  This  procedure  was 
adapted  from  England,  where  the  method  has  gone  out  of  use 
since  the  establishment  of  cabinet  responsibility  to  the  House 
of  Commons. 

\There  have  been  many  and  vigorous  discussions  as  to  what 
are  proper  grounds  for  impeachment.  The  constitution  names 
" treason,  bribery  or  other  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors"  as 
the  causes.  It  has  been  argued  that  these  words  are  not  to  be 
taken  in  their  technical  legal  sense,  which  would  limit  such 
trials  to  acts  which  national  laws  expressly  declared  to  be 
felonies  and  misdemeanors ;  but  it  is  also  held  by  some  that  the 


THE   SENATE  AND  CONGEESS  53 

words  are  to  be  taken  in  a  more  general  sense.  Congress  has 
adopted  this  interpretation;  and  none  of  the  impeachment 
trials  have  been  based  on  the  violation  of  a  statute.  Two 
judges  have  been  convicted :  one  for  treason,  one  for  drunken- 
ness. In  the  trial  of  President  Johnson  the  argument  that  he 
was  not  guilty  of  any  statutory  crime  was  urged  in  his  defense 
and  seems  to  have  weighed  in  securing  his  acquittal. 

The  only  penalty  that  can  be  imposed  on  conviction  in  an 
impeachment  trial  is  removal  from  office ;  but  this  is  enough  to 
establish  the  control  of  Congress  over  the  officers.  Persons 
convicted  by  impeachment  would  afterwards  be  subject  to  trial 
and  punishment  by  the  ordinary  courts. 

If  impeachments  are  limited  only  to  statutory  crimes,  it  is 
obvious  that  they  provide  no  means  for  any  control  over  the 
administration  in  the  ordinary  discharge  of  its  duties.  But 
even  if  the  larger  scope  of  grounds  for  impeachment  be  taken, 
it  is  still  a  difficult  and  cumbersome  process  which  can  be  used 
only  on  rare  occasions.  Indictment  by  the  House  is  difficult 
to  secure,  and  conviction  by  two-thirds  of  the  Senate  is  almost 
impossible.  As  Mr.  Bryce  says : 

"Impeachment  is  the  heaviest  piece  of  artillery  in  the  congressional 
arsenal,  but  because  it  is  so  heavy  it  is  unfit  for  ordinary  use.  It  is  like 
a  hundred-ton  gun  which  needs  complex  machinery  to  bring  it  into  posi- 
tion, an  enormous  charge  of  powder  to  fire  it,  and  a  large  mark  to  aim  at. 
It  is  an  extreme  remedy,  proper  to  be  applied  against  an  official  guilty  of 
political  crimes,  but  ill-adapted  for  the  punishment  of  small  transgres- 
sions. ' ' 

Effective  congressional  control  is  thus  that  secured  by 
detailed  statutes  and  appropriations,  in  framing  which  Con- 
gress is  aided  by  its  committees  and  the  reports  required  from 
administrative  officials. 


CHAPTER   IV 

THE  CABINET  AND  ITS  MEMBERS 

Beferences. — BRTCE:  The  American  Commonwealth,  I,  86-96,  277-297. — 
GOODNOW:  Comparative  Administrative  Law,  I,  127-161. — GUGGEN- 
HEIMEB:  Development  of  the  Executive  Departments,  in  JAMESON: 
Essays  in  Constitutional  History,  116-185. — BURGESS:  Political 
Science,  II,  263,  311-317. — H.  J.  FORD:  American  Politics,  383-396. — 
A.  L.  LOWELL:  Essays  on  Government,  No.  1. — J.  I.  C.  HARE:  Amer- 
ican Constitutional  Law,  I,  lecture  10. — DUPRIEZ:  Les  Ministres,  II, 
42-52,  68-95,  150-164. — F.  SNOW  :  In  American  Historical  Association 
Beports,  4:309;  in  Annals  Amer.  Acad.  Soc.  and  Pol.  Sci.,  3:1. — 
Congressional  Directory,  December,  1904,  257-290. — Atlantic 
Monthly,  50:95. — North  American  Review,  111:330. — American  Law 
Review,  23:280-282. — Tale  Law  Journal,  7:1-19. — Magazine  of 
American  History,  23:386. 

i  IN  the  discharge  of  his  administrative  functions  the  Presi- 
dent is  assisted  by  a  group  of  advisers  known  as  the  Cabinet, 
which  has  some  resemblances  and  some  points  of  difference  to 
the  cabinets  in  other  governments.  *-~As  is  the  general  rule 
elsewhere,  the  President  *s  Cabinet  is  composed  of  the  heads  of 
the  principal  executive  departments,  into  which  the  national 
administration  is  organized.  Like  the  British  cabinet,  ithas 
no  legal  existence  as  a  collective  body.  **But,  unlike  the  cabi- 
nets in  countries  having  the  parliamentary  system  of  govern- 
ment, neither  the  Cabinet  as  a  wholft  nor  t.hfi  ir>fHvirfaa1  TYIATTI. 
bers,  in  the  United  States,  are^  politically  responsible  for  the 
actTol1  the  chieFexecutive.  *~The  President  has  full  aiitfrojMty 
and  sole  responsibility ;  and  his  Cabinet  is  simply  a  consulta- 
tive and  advisory  body  to  him,  without  any  effective  control 
over  legislation.  —This  situation's  indicated  by  the  fact  that 
the  members  of  the  President's  Cabinet  are  generally  called 

54 


THE  CABINET  AND  ITS  MEMBERS  55 

secretaries,  instead  ofjbhe_more  dignified  jitle_of  ministers, 
which  is  used  in  most  other  countries. 

ORGANIZATION 

^While  thftjnabinet  as  a  body  has  no  formal  legal  existence, 
its  membershjj^jsjn _ jact^determined  by _the_number_^)f  execu- 
tive departments  in  the national  administration.  '"These  depart- 
ments have  been  created  by  congressional  statutes,  which  regu- 
late jjtrictly  their  jurisdiction  an'cT  powers.  ~  The  constitution' 
does  not  expressly  provide  what  authority  shall  have  this  power 
of  organizing  the  departments ;  indeed  it  does  not  specifically __ 
direct  the  creation  of  such  Departments,  although  it  recognizes;/ 
their  existence  in  two  places,  frit  permits  the  President  t6 
require  the  opinion  in  writing  of  the  heads  of  the  executive 
departments;  ancrrt provides that  Congress  may  vest  tne  power 
of  appointing  inferior  officers  in  the  heads  of  such  departments. 
The  last  cited  clause  speaks  of  *  'offices  established  by  law, ' J  and 
this  has  been  interpreted  as  giving  to  the  legislature  the  organ- 
izing power.  """Moreover,  not  only  are  the  departments  in  their 
main  features  created  and  established  by  Congress;  but  also 
their  internal  organization,  and  the  powers  and  duties  ofjbhe. 
various  jieads  of  sub-divisions  arp  often  rpgi7^t.p.d  in  detail  by 

statute.      OrTly_ra;rft1y  doq§  fl  gflatiitft  prmrirU-thaiLthe  head  nf  fl 
department  shall  organize  any  particular  sub-division. 

In  other  countries  the  internal  organization  of  the  depart- 
ments, and  in  continental  Europe  even  the  principal  depart- 
ments, are  established  by  executive  order.  This  system  has  the 
advantage  of  flexibility,  since  it  permits  frequent  changes  to 
be  made  quickly  to  meet  new  conditions.  The  rigidity  of  an 
organization  fixed  by  statute  is  not  always  conducive  to  eco- 
nomic or  efficient  administration.  An  illustration  of  this  may 
be  noted  in  the  creation  by  statute  of  districts  for  the  collection 
of  customs  duties. '  The  districts  as  they  now  exist  were  estab- 
lished many  years  ago,  and  some  of  the  ports  formerly  of  im- 
portance have  sunk  into  insignificance  with  changes  in  the  lines 
of  foreign  trade.  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury  have  repeatedly 


56  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

reported  this  situation  to  Congress  and  recommended  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  less  important  districts.  But  Congress  has  failed  to 
act  on  these  recommendations,  probably  on  account  of  the  oppo- 
sition of  the  members  from  the  sections  affected.  Such  mat- 
ters could  with  advantage  be  left  to  administrative  regulation  ; 
while  the  legislative  control  over  finances  would  effectively 
check  any  tendency  to  extravagance  which  might  be  feared 
from  the  administrative  officers. 

**In  1789  when  the  constitution  was  first  put  into  operation 
three  executive  departments  were  created  by  Congress  :  State, 
Treasury  and  War,  and  in  addition  there  was  established  the 
office  of  Attorney-General,  who  ranked  from  the  first  with  the 


heads  of  the  departments.  -^Liiif^~JJmt__time_fi.ve  additional 
executive  departments  have  been  successively  formed—  the 
Navy  in  1798,  the  Post-Office  inJj^r  +.hft  JTitenor  in  JM49. 
Agriculture  in  1889,  and  Commerce  and  Labor  in  1903—  while 
the  Attorney-General's  office  has  been  developed  into  the  de- 
partment' ot  Justice.  <nis  expansion  has  been  due  in  part  to 


the  development  "of  the  older  administrative  Services,  some  of 
which  have  been  taken  from  the  original  departments  and 
placed  under  one  of  the  more  recent  creations  ;  and  in  part  to 
the  establishment  and  growth  of  new  branches  of  service.  In 
addition  to  the  nine  executive  departments,  whose  heads  form 
the  President  's  Cabinet,  there  are  a  few  less  important  bureaus 
not  connected  with  any  of  the  main  departments.  Such  are 
the  Inter-State  Commerce  Commission  and  the  Civil  Service 
Commission. 

A  uniform  salary  of  $8,000  a  year  is  given  to  each  of  the 
heads  of  the  nine  principal  departments.  This  is  much  below 
the  compensation  of  the  ministers  at  the  head  of  the  important 
departments  in  the  principal  foreign  countries. 

The  number  of  Cabinet  members  is  much  smaller  in  the 
United  States  national  administration  than  in  other  important 
countries.  This  is  due  in  part  to  the  federal  system  of  govern- 
ment, which  leaves  to  the  states  such  matters  as  educational 
administration,  the  supervision  over  local  government,  and  the 


THE  CABINET  AND  ITS  MEMBEES  57 

regulation  of  manufacturing  industry  and  of  commerce  which 
does  not  cross  state  lines.  But  in  some  cases  services  per- 
formed by  the  national  government  are  in  this  country  organ- 
ized as  subordinate  bureaus  of  one  of  the  main  departments, 
which  in  other  countries  are  in  charge  of  an  official  of  cabinet 
rank.  Such,  for  example,  are  the  public  works  and  colonies 
under  the  Secretary  of  War. 

Department  secretaries  are  appointed  by  the  President,  "by 
and  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  theJBgiiate. * '  There  have 
been,  however,  but  a  few  exceptional  cases  where  the  Senate 
has  attempted  to  exercise  any  control  over  the  President's 
selections  for  these  positions ;  and  the  power  of  appointment  is 
practically  exercised  by  the  President  himself.  He  is  under 
no  compulsion  to  choose  the  members  of  his  Cabinet  from  the 
political  party  which  controls  the  Senate,  still  less  from  the 
party  which  controls  the  House  of  Representatives.  And  each 
President  is  free  to  select  his  own  advisers,  without  reference 
to  those  of  his  predecessor. 

Nevertheless,  there  are  certain  customs  and  limitations  ob- 
served by  the  Presidents  in  their  choice.  Elected  to  his  position 
by  a  political  party,  thePresident  is  confined  in,  fop  ^hmW  pf 
£is  (Jabmet'to  the  members  of  his  own  party.  ^Washington 
^^empted  to .sejiure-a.£I^m^t^ith  representatives  of  different 
political  views;  but  the  attempt  was  not  successful.  Lincoln 
selected  some  men  who  had  been  democrats  and  some  who  had 
been  whigs;  but  all  had  definitely  attached  themselves  to  the 
new  republican  party.  Cleveland  in  1893  appointed  a  former 
republican  as  Secretary  of  State;  but  he  had  supported  the 


democratic  candidate  at  the  preceding  election,  and  was  in  no 
sense  a  representative  of  the  opposing  party. 

Several  groups  of  members,  chosen  on  different  grounds, 
may  generally  be  recognized  in  each  Cabinet  as  finally  organ- 
ized. fi^TTig  rpm'vfl  thftir  p^rn't^p  gg  party  leaders.  IfjthgEfi 
is  a  well-marked  division  within  the  party,  there  will  be  some 
persons  closely  allied  to  the  President,  and  usually  some  repre- 
sentatives of  the  opposing  element.  The  Secretary  of  State 


58  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTKATION 

has  frequently  been  the  strongest  rival  to  the  President  for  the 
party  nomination. -~  Some  members  are  selected  largely  because 
of  their  services  jp* ynlit.ifln.1  pfmnpaiprng,  Cither  past  or  pro- 
spective.-— ' Occasionally  there  will  be  a  selection  based  mainly 
on  administrative  qualifications  for  the  special  department. 
And  there  are  usually  some  persons  in  the  Cabinet  chosen  by 
the  President  mainly  on  account  of  personal  considerations. 
""""yew  of  the  Da^inet^mggibjPrR  arA  taken  rh'rpptly  fro™  r!pjQ- 
gress.  -Occasionally  ex-Senators  and  ex-members  of  the  House 
"of  .Representatives  are  appointed.-- But  a  Senator  feels  that 
his  position  in  the  Senate  is  more  secure  if  he  continues  to 
occupy  it;  and  that  the  longer  tenure  with  the  chance  for 
reelection  makes  it  a  more  influential  post  than  that  of  depart- 
ment secretary  for  not  more  than  four  years.  Most  of  the 
representatives  are  not  of  sufficient  calibre  for  the  Cabinet; 
while  the  few  leaders— who  are  also  usually  sure  of  their  seats 
—prefer  the  political  and  legislative  work  of  Congress  to-  the 
administrative  service. 

"**  One  consideration  of  considerable  weight  is  the  representa- 
tion of  different  sections  of  the  country.  There  is  no  rule 
requiring  anything  like  a  proportional  distribution  of  the  posi- 
tions; but  it  is  felt  to^be  advisable i.lhaj^^aj3h^of^  the  large  ^divi- 
sions of  the  country  should  have  a  member  in  the  cabinet. 

V  POWERS  AND  FUNCTIONS 

<In  discussing  the  powers  and  functions  of  the  department 
secretaries,  it  is  necessary  to  discriminate  between  (1)  their 
influence  as  a  collective  body,  (2)  the  general  powers  exercised 
by  each  individually,  and  (3)  the  special  functions  of  the  dif- 
ferent secretaries. 

^As  a  Cabinet.— In  their  collective  capacity  the  department 
secretaries  are  known  as  the  President's  Cabinet.  But  this 
Cabinet,  while  in  some  respects  resembling  the  cabinets  in 
European  governments,  occupies  in  fact  a  very  different  and 
much  less  important  place  in  the  government.  Like  the  British 
cabinet,  it  is  an  entirely  extra-legal  body,  authorized  neither 


THE  CABINET  AND  ITS  MEMBEES  59 

by  the  constitution  nor  the  statutes,  nor  even  by  any  .formal 
regulation  or  order  of  the  President.  But  the  British  cabinet 
is  at  least  an  informal  committee  of  the  Privy  Council,  one  of 
the  oldest  features  of  the  British  constitution,  and  is  moreover 
the  working  part  of  the  Privy  Council  ;  WIT-HP  i 


the  Cabinet  is  purely  a  voluntary  association  of  the  heads  of 
the  departments. 

Not  only  has  the  President's  Cabinet  no  legal  existence,  Jtt 

hasjrip^eQllectiYe  repprmsihility,  imcl  p/v^ntm!  nvor  tlifi  pnlit- 

ical  and  legislative  work  of  Congress.  In  most  European  coun- 
tries  the  members  of  the  cabinet  are  the  leaders  of  the  majority 
in  the  legislature  ;  and  are  the  responsible  directors  of  legisla- 
tion. In  the  United  States,  the  members  of  the  Cabinet  cannot 
be  members  of  Congress:  and  by  custom  are  excluded  from 
speaking  in  either  house,  although  they  frequently  appear 
before  congressional  committees.  It  has  been  proposed  to 
give  them  seats  and  the  privilege  of  speaking  in  Congress  with- 
out a  vote  ;  and  this  action  would  doubtless  increase  their 
influence  in  legislation,  but  so  long  as  they  are  chosen  by  the 
President  without  reference  to  the  party  majority  in  Congress 
they  could  not  become  the  controlling  factors. 

Even  in  administrative  affairs,  the  Cabinet  as  a  collective 
body  has  no  legal  control  over  the  ^President  or  .of  any  single 
member.  If  votes,  resolutions  or  formal  recommendations 
were  passed,  they  would  not  legally  bind  the  President  in  the 
slightest  degree.  It  is  a  purely^  advisory  body  voluntarily 
consulted  by  the  President;  but  the  latter  must  himself  make. 
the  final  decision  and  assume  full  responsibility  for  all  deci- 
sions.1 

While  it  is  necessary  to  recognize  the  less  important  position 
of  the  President's  Cabinet  as  compared  with  the  cabinets  in 
such  countries  as  England,  France  and  Prussia,  there  is  also 

*A  striking  illustration  of  the  situation  is  told  of  President  Lincoln. 
A  proposition  made  by  the  President  was  opposed  by  every  member  of  the 
cabinet;  but  at  the  conclusion  of  the  discussion  Lincoln  laconically 
announced  the  result  :  *  '  Seven  nays,  one  aye,  the  ayes  have  it.  '  ;  Formal 
votes  are  seldom  if  ever  taken. 


60  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

some  danger  of  underestimating  its  functions  and  influence. 
Thus  Mr.  Bryce  says : ' 1  The  ministers  meet  in  council,  but  have 
comparatively  little  to  settle  when  they  meet ;  .  .  .  they  are  a 
group  of  heads  of  departments,  whose  chief,  though  he  usually 
consults  them  separatively,  often  finds  it  useful  to  bring  to- 
gether in  one  room  for  a  talk  about  politics  or  to  settle  some 
administrative  question  which  lies  on  the  borderland  between 
the  provinces  of  two  ministers. ' ' 

If  this  statement  fully  represented  the  work  of  the  Cabinet, 
it  would  be  difficult  to  understand  the  necessity  for  two  regular 
meetings  of  the  Cabinet  every  week  during  the  greater  part  of 
the  year.  Not  merely  matters  involving  more  than  one  depart- 
ment, but  most  matters  of  first  importance  in  the  field  of  any 
department  or  of  presidential  action,  are  considered  and  dis- 
cussed ;  and  even  in  the  field  of  legislation  measures  that  are  to 
T>e  officially  recommended  or  privately  urged  either  by  the 
President  or  the  secretaries "areTcarefully  gone  over  and  an" 
administration  policy  is  usually  worked  out  and  adopted.  In 
admuJMtratiyft  matt"**,  f1lA  HahinAf  consultations  serve  not 
only  to  avoid  conflicting  action  by  the  different  departments, 
but  also  to  bring  about  in  large  measure  a  harmonious  spirit  of 
cooperation ;  and  in  both  respects  the  national  administration 


is  much  more  effective  than  the  disorganized  executive  machin- 
ery in  most  of  the  states.  In  legislative  matters,  the  influence 
'of  the  Cabinet  consultations  necessarily  depends  on  the  party 
relations  between  the.  Prpniflfnrt  fln iTTfrn  gr ? ^  When  one  or 
both  houses  of  Congress  is  politically  opposed  to  the  President, 
comparatively  little  can  be  accomplished ;  but  when  the  Presi- 
dent 's  party  has  a  majority  in  both  houses,  the  administration 
policy  will,  unless  there  are  internal  party  dissensions,  have 
large  weight  in  the  legislation  enacted. 

Individual  Powers.— -Each  head  of  a  department  even  in  his 
own  field  is  subject  to  the  control  and  direction  of  the  Presi- 
dent. But  from  the  causes  which  lead  to  the  establishment  of 
the  departments  this  control  .cannot  cover  his  whole  field  of 
action^  The  departments  are  created  because  there  is  more 


THE  CABINET  AND  ITS  MEMBEES  61 

work  to  be  done  than  can  be  effectively  supervised  by  the  \ 
'President  himself;  and  thus  each  secretary  has  a  series  of 
administrative  powers  and  duties  which  they  perform  largely 
independent  of  the  President.     The  constitution  provides  that 
Congress  may  grant  to  the  heads  of  the  departments  the  power 
to  appoint  inferior  officials  ;  and  many  laws  have  conferred  this 
power,  so__that^the  prppt^r  rpass  nf  offices  are.  fi^ed  by  the  ' 
appointment  of  the  heads  of  the  departments.     The  more 
important  subordinates  are,  however,  appointed  by  the  Presi- 
dent and  Senate.     Under  the  civil  service  Jaw  o£JL&83,  a^reat      , 
number  of  minor  appointments  are  restricted  to  candidates 

.^"\  "\  ^--r   -  '  "\        -^g.-^*\.-^'-^V>-          ---  ^^         —  *~\  IIJ—^JJ,  —^t^^g^^^U^. 

who  have  qualified  themselves  by  examinations. 

It  was  early  laid  down  by  the  courts  that  the  power  of 


removal  was  incident  to  the  power  of  appointment.1    So 

ever  the  heads  of  departments  have  the  appointing  power,  they 
have  (unless  there  are  express  provisions  in  statute  or  execu- 
tive regulation  to  the  contrary)  the  power  of  removal  also. 

r  Under  the  earlier  conception  of  a  head  of  a  department  in 
England  and  the  United  States,  he  was  considered  an  official  at 
the  center  of  government  with  powers  of  appointment  and 
removal,  but  he  was  not  supposed  to  direct  the  actions  of  the 
subordinates  in  his  department.  The  statutes  of  the  legis- 
lature entered  into  the  most  minute  details  as  to  the  duties  and 
powers  of  the  subordinate  officers,  so  that  the  need  for  central 
instruction  and  supervision  was  not  felt.  This  situation  can 
be  illustrated  in  the  national  administration  by  the  collectors 
of  customs.  Though  appointed  nominally  as  subordinates  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  the  law  did  not  recognize  that 
they  were  subject  to  his  instructions  and  directions.  It  was 
not  the  practice  to  regulate  their  duties  by  administrative 
instructions,  nor  was  there  any  custoni  of  appealing  from  the 
decision  of  a  collector  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.2  But 
as  the  result  of  a  century  of  development  the  TiatinnaJ  adnnipig. 

*Ex  parte  Hennen,  13  Peters,  230. 

3Eeport  of  Secretary  of  Treasury  on  Collection  of  Duties,   1888,  p. 
xxxvii;  cf.  10  Peters  80,  137. 


62  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

tration  has  become  centralized  in  spirit  and  practice  as  well  as 
in  form.  It  is  now  recognized  that  the  department  secretaries 
stand  at  the  head  of  a  hierarchy  of  officials,  with  power  to 
reverse  or  modify  on  appeal  the  decisions  of  inferior  officers 
ind  to  direct  them  how  to  act.  In  particular,  the  statutes  now 
specifically  provide  for  an  appeal  from  a  collector  of  internal 
revenue  to  the  Treasury  before  the  aggrieved  party  has  any 
standing  in  court  ;*  and  in  the  department  of  the  Interior  there 
is  a  well  developed  system  of  appeals  from  subordinate  officials 
to  the  secretary.2  The  courts,  too,  have  recognized  that  the 
head  of  a  department  may  change  the  decision  of  a  subordinate 
officer.3 

Still  further  the  heads  of  departments  exercise  a  delegated 
ordinance  power ;  and  most  of  the  executive  regulations  are  in 
fact  issued  by  the  department  concerned.  The  revised  statutes 
authorize  the  head  of  each  department  "to  prescribe  regula- 
tions, not  inconsistent  with  law,  for  the  government  of  his 
department,  the  conduct  of  its  officers  and  clerks,  the  distribu- 
tion and  performance  of  its  business,  and  the  custody,  use  and 
preservation  of  the  records,  papers  and  property  appertaining 
to  it.4  Besides  this  grant  to  all  the  heads  of  departments, 
special  ordinance  powers  are  given  to  the  heads  of  the  particu- 
lar departments. 

This  ordinance  power  is,  however,  limited  to  that  specifically 
conferred ;  and  where  a  regulation  is  issued  not  clearly  based 
on  legal  authority,  the  courts  do  not  hesitate  to  declare  it  void 
when  its  legality  is  contested  in  suits  before  them.5.  But  when 
Congress  has  delegated  the  power  to  issue  such  regulations, 
these  when  issued  have  the  full  force  of  a  statute,  upon  private 
individuals  as  well  as  upon  public  officials.6 

devised  Statutes,  §  3226. 
2lbid.,  §  2273. 
3 11  Federal  Reporter,  76. 
Revised  Statutes,  §  161;  cf.  Hid.  §  2652. 
°2  Cranch,  170;  5  Blatchford,  63;  107  U.  S.  407. 

'Eevlsed  Statutes,  §  251;  1  Abbott,  U.  S.  351;  4  Howard,  80;  100  TJ. 
S.  13,  23. 


THE  CABINET  AND  ITS  MEMBERS  63 

There  are  no  direct  remedies  against  the  general  acts  of  the 
heads  of  departments :  appointments,  removals,  directions  and 
general  ordinances.     In  the  case  of  special  orders,  a  remedy  is  I 
to  be  found  in  one  of  the  special  writs  (mandamus,  injunction,  I 
certiorari,  quo  warranto,  habeas  corpus},  which  may  be  applied 
for  from  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  District  of  Columbia,  and 
from  there  appeal  lies  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States.1 

Special  Duties.— The  Secretary  of  State  has  always  ranked 
first  among  the  members  of  the  President 's  Cabinet ;  and  this 
position  is  now  legally  recognized  in  the  act  regulating  the 
succession  to  the  Presidency  which  makes  him  succeed  imme- 
diately after  the  Vice-President.  This  rank,  however,  confers 
no  such  influence  as  that  possessed  by  a  prime  minister  in 
European  countries ;  but  the  dignity  of  the  position  generally 
causes  it  to  be  given  to  the  strongest  man  in  the  Cabinet,  who 
frequently  wields  considerable  influence  in  the  consultations. 

His  duties  fall  into  three  qppflpa  •  as  .keeper  of  the  seals  and  J 
archives,  as  home  secretary,  and  as  secretary  for  foreign  affairs. 

As  keeper  of  the  seals  and  archives,  his  duties  are  mainly 
formal.  He  receives  bills  and  resolutions  from  Congress ;  and 
also  proclamations  and  important  commissions  from  the  Presi- 
dent, all  of  which  he  countersigns  and  to  which  he  affixes  the 
great  seal  (department  seals  are  now  attached  to  most  minor 
commissions) .  He  is  further  charged  with  publishing  the  laws 
of  the  United  States,  and  guarding  the  public  archives;  he 
preserves  the  original  statutes  and  resolutions  of  Congress, 
presidential  proclamations,  and  treaties  made  with  foreign 
countries. 

Y  As  home  secretary,  he  is  the  medium  of  communication/ 
between  the president Hano!"  state  governors,  j.  e.t  between  the 
national  government  and  the  state  governments.  His  duties 
in  this  field  are  very  limited ;  but  so  far  as  they  go  they  corre- 
spond to  those  of  a  minister  of  the  interior  or  home  secretary 
in  Europe.  The  principal  subjects  of  such  communications  are 

1  Marbury  v.  Madison,  1  Cranch,  137;  Kendall  v.  U.  S.,  12  Peters,  524. 


64  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

applications  from  state  governors  for  troops  to  suppress  dis- 
order, negotiations  with  the  governors  in  regard  to  the  raising 
of  troops  in  time  of  war,  and  negotiations  in  reference  to  the 
admission  of  new  states. 

In  regard  to  foreign  affairs,  "he  is  charged,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  President,  with  the  duties  appertaining  to  corre- 
spondence with  the  public  ministers  and  the  consuls  of  the 
United  States,  and  with  the  representatives  of  foreign  powers 
accredited  to  the  United  States."  He  countersigns  warrants 
for  the  extradition  of  fugitives  from  justice,  issues  passports  to 
citizens  of  the  United  States  and  exequaturs  to  foreign  consuls 
in  the  United  States.  /  In  a  word,  he  supervises  the  relations  of 
the  government  with  foreign  governments  and  protects  the 
persons  and  interests  of  American  citizens  in  foreign  countries. 
His  conduct  of  foreign  affairs  includes  the  negotiation  of  com- 
mercial treaties,  which  in  most  other  countries  is  performed  by 
the  minister  of  commerce.  He  makes  an  annual  report  to  Con- 
gress on  foreign  relations,  which  includes  most  of  the  diplo- 
matic correspondence  with  United  States  ministers  to  foreign 
countries  and  foreign  representatives  to  the  United  States. 
His  control  over  the  negotiation  of  treaties  gives  him  a  larger 
influence  in  determining  questions  of  policy  than  any  other 
secretary ;  although  he  is  still  subordinated  to  the  directions  of 
the  President,  and  the  treaties  are  subject  to  the  action  of  the 
Senate. 

In  the  early  days  of  the  national  government  the  position  of 
Secretary  of  State  was  a  stepping  stone  to  the  Presidency ;  but 
there  has  been  no  instance  of  this  since  Buchanan.  The  secre- 
taries who  have  gained  the  greatest  reputation  in  this  office 
have  been  John  Quincy  Adams,  Seward  and  Hay. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  does  not  possess  the  same 
powers  nor  occupy  the  same  position  as  a  minister  of  finance  in 
other  governments.  "In  the  countries  of  Europe  the  finance 
minister  is  above  all  the  director  of  the  financial  policy  of  the 
government;  the  general  control  which  he  exercises  over  the 
administration  of  the  revenues  and  expenditures  of  the  govern- 


THE  CABINET  AND  ITS  MEMBEES  65 

ment  are,  one  may  say,  only  incidental  in  his  personal  duties. 
The  essentially  important  side  of  his  functions  is  the  prepara- 
tion of  the  budgets,  the  determination  of  future  expenses,  the 
selection  of  sources  of  revenue  to  be  used  or  maintained;  in 
addition,  he  has  the  duty  of  guarding  the  financial  interests  of 
the  state  and  nation,  especially  in  everything  which  concerns 
the  monetary  market,  the  organization  of  credit,  and  of  fidu- 
ciary circulation. ' J1 

During  the  first  years  under  the  constitution  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury  in  the  United  States  was  also  in  this  sense  a 
true  finance  minister.  Hamilton,  the  first  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  was  the  director  and  real  master  of  the  financial 
policy  of  the  United  States  government.  Under  his  direction 
the  credit  of  the  United  States  was  established,  and  the  finances 
of  the  new  government  were  placed  on  a  sure  foundation.  But 
step  by  step  this  side  of  the  functions  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  has  decreased.  Congress  has  assumed  the  same 
power  of  initiative  over  financial  legislation  as  over  other  leg- 
islation, and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  reduced  to  the  / 
supervision  over  the  administration  of  the  financial  and  other  / 
bureaus  in  the  department  of  the  Treasury. 

Control  of  financial  policy  belongs  in  fact  to  no  one;  it  is 
divided  and  sub-divided  between  various  standing  committees 
of  the  Senate  and  the  House  of  Eepresentatives,  while  a  few 
shreds  of  power  are  still  retained  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury. The  latter  official  is  directed  to  prepare  plans  for  the 
improvement  of  the  revenue  and  the  support  of  public  credit, 
and  in  his  reports  to  Congress  to  submit  estimates  on  the 
receipts  and  expenditures;  but  these  plans  and  estimates, 
which  in  other  countries  would  form  the  basis  of  the  final, 
budget,  and  in  some  countries  would  practically  agree  with  the 
budget,  have  in  this  country  almost  no  value  or  influence  in  the 
determination  of  either  the  expenditures  or  revenues.  The 
Secretary's  estimates  of  expenditures  are  systematically 
ignored^his  proposals  as  to  changes  in  the  revenue  laws  are 

1  Dupriez,  Les  Ministrcs,  II,  153. 
5 


66  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

hardly  taken  into  consideration.  So,  too,  with  all  other  meas- 
ures connected  with  financial  policy.  The  recommendations 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  guard  against  the  financial 
dangers  of  a  surplus  accumulating  in  the  treasury,  on  the  regu- 
lation of  banks  and  paper  money  have  often  less  influence  than 
those  of  single  members  on  one  of  the  financial  committees  of 
Congress. 

The  duties  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  correspond,  not 
to  those  of  the  British  chancellor  of  the  exchequer,  but  rather 
to  those  of  the  permanent  under-secretary  of  the  British  Treas- 
ury and  those  of  the  parliamentary  secretary  who  has  control 
over  the  patronage.  His  sole  political  function  is  in  the  selec- 
tion of  the  numerous  subordinate  officials  in  the  various 
bureaus— the  more  important  offices  are  filled  by  the  President. 

Among  the  many  administrative  functions  performed  in  the 
various  bureaus  of  the  Treasury  department,  the  matters  which 
receive  the  personal  attention  of  the  Secretary  include:  (1) 
supervision  over  the  collection  of  customs  and  internal  revenue, 
especially  by  the  issue  of  regulations  and  instructions  and  the 
decision  of  appeals  from  the  local  collectors;  (2)  selection  of 
depositories  of  public  moneys  and  determination  of  the  amount 
of  the  bonds  of  disbursing  officials;  (3)  prescribing  the  forms 
for  keeping  and  reporting  accounts,  and  issuing  warrants  for 
money  to  be  paid  by  the  Treasury  in  pursuance  of  appropria- 
tions made  by  Congress;  (4)  making  loans  by  the  issue  of 
bonds  for  the  protection  of  the  gold  reserve  or  other  purposes ; 
and  (5)  supervision  over  the  miscellaneous  bureaus  in  the 
Treasury  department. 

The  most  important  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury  have  been 
Hamilton  (1789-1795),  Gallatin  (1801-1814),  Chase  (1861- 
1864),  and  Sherman  (1877-1881). 

The  Secretary  of  War,  the  head  of  the  department  of  War, 
is  ordinarily  selected  not  from  the  army,  but  from  civil  life. 
Exceptions  to  this  customary  rule  have  been  made  in  the  cases 
of  Secretaries  Knox,  Grant,  Schofield  and  Sherman;  but  all 
of  these  except  Schofield  had  also  large  experience  in  civil  life 


THE  CABINET  AND  ITS  MEMBERS  67 

as  well  as  their  military  training.  This  civil  character  of  the 
Secretary  of  War  is  in  marked  contrast  with  the  custom  in 
European  continental  countries,  where  the  war  minister  is 
always  chosen  from  the  highest  army  officers,  and  is  thus  the 
effective  head  of  the  army  administration.  In  Great  Britain, 
however,  as  in  the  United  States,  the  secretary  for  the  War 
department  is  never  a  military  officer ;  and  the  attempt  is  made 
to  bring  the  army  distinctly  under  civil  control.  But  in  both 
of  these  countries  there  has  been  constant  friction  between  the 
civil  secretary  and  the  military  commander ;  which  it  is  hoped 
to  obviate  in  this  country  through  the  operation  of  the  new 
general  staff. 

Owing  to  the  development  of  some  branches  of  civil  adminis- 
tration in  close  relation  to  the  army,  the  Secretary  of  War  is 
practically  also  a  secretary  of  public  works  and  a  secretary  for 
the  colonies.  In  connection  with  the  army  and  military  affairs, 
his  duties  are  such  as  may  be  assigned  by  the  President.  He 
has  immediate  supervision  over  all  estimates  of  appropriations 
for  the  expenses  of  the  department  and  the  army,  and  of  all 
expenditures  for  the  support  and  transportation  of  the  army 
and  for  the  civil  expenses  of  the  department  of  War.  He  has 
general  supervision  over  the  enlistment,  lodging,  support, 
instruction  and  payment  of  the  troops,  the  distribution  of  arms 
and  munitions  of  war,  and  the  construction  of  fortifications. 
He  issues  orders  for  the  movement  of  troops,  prepares  nomina- 
tions for  the  appointment  and  promotion  of  officers  and  issues 
commissions  to  those  appointed.  He  has  also  supervision  over 
the  United  States  Military  Academy  at  West  Point,  of  the 
national  military  cemeteries,  and  of  the  publication  of  the 
Official  Records  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 

His  duties  corresponding  to  those  of  a  secretary  of  public 
works  are  explained  by  the  fact  that  the  principal  public  works 
of  the  national  government  have  been  carried  out  by  the  engi- 
neer officers  of  the  army.  The  Secretary  of  War  has  thus  gen- 
eral charge  over  all  river  and  harbor  improvements,  the  estab- 
lishment of  harbor  lines,  and  the  prevention  of  obstructions  to 


68  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

navigation,  and  his  approval  of  the  plans  and  location  is  neces- 
sary for  the  construction  of  bridges  over  navigable  waters. 

Since  the  Spanish- American  War  the  Secretary  of  War  has 
had  added  to  his  duties  the  supervision  over  the  civil  adminis- 
tration in  the  new  colonial  possessions  of  the  United  States ; 
and  the  officials  in  the  Philippine  Islands  are  under  his  general 
direction. 

The  most  noted  Secretaries  of  War  have  been  Stanton,  in  the 
time  of  the  Civil  War,  and  Root,  who  has  established  the  new 
colonial  administration  and  reorganized  the  system  of  army 
administration. 

The  Postmaster-General  has  general  supervision  over  the 
postal  service ;  and,  under  the  four-year  tenure  rule  which  pre- 
vails for  postmasters,  his  personal  attention  is  given  very 
largely  to  questions  of  patronage  connected  with  the  enormous 
number  of  appointments.  On  this  account  the  position  is  often 
given  to  an  active  party  manager,  and  only  occasionally  has  it 
been  filled  by  a  man  with  large  business  experience,  such  as 
would  be  most  likely  to  bring  the  postal  service  to  the  highest 
state  of  efficiency. 

In  a  slight  degree  the  Attorney-General  corresponds  to  a 
European  minister  of  justice.  Although  he  has  no  power  of 
appointment  or  any  effective  control  over  the  judges,  he  has  a 
general  supervision  over  the  executive  and  administrative 
officers  of  the  United  States  courts,— the  marshals  and  district 
attorneys.  He  is  also  the  legal  adviser  of  the  President  and 
the  executive  departments ;  and  the  attorney  for  the  govern- 
ment or  public  prosecutor  in  law  suits  to  which  the  national 
government  is  a  party. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Navy  exercises  similar  functions  in 
relation  to  the  navy  as  does  the  Secretary  of  War  in  relation  to 
the  army.  Under  the  direction  of  the  President,  he  has  gen- 
eral superintendence  of  construction,  manning,  armament, 
equipment  and  employment  of  vessels  of  war  and  the  super- 
vision over  the  naval  service.  For  this  position  the  custom  of 
making  appointments  from  civil  life  has  been  even  more 


THE  CABINET  AND  ITS  MEMBEES  69 

strictly  observed  than  for  the  head  of  the  department  of  War ; 
and  there  are  no  examples  of  a  naval  officer  filling  the  post. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  bears  very  little  resemblance  to 
the  ministers  of  the  interior  in  European  countries.  These 
latter  are  charged  specially  with  the  maintenance  of  internal 
order,  and  the  supervision  over  local  governments,  functions 
which  in  this  country  are  for  the  most  part  in  the  domain  of 
the  state  governments,  while  the  limited  range  of  national 
authority  is  exercised  by  the  Secretary  of  State.  The  United 
States  Secretary  of  the  Interior  has  general  supervision  over  a 
number  of  heterogeneous  bureaus.  The  most  important  are 
those  having  charge  of  public  lands,  Indian  affairs,  patents, 
pensions,  the  geological  survey,  and  educational  information- 
Over  the  organized  territories,  however,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  has  direct  oversight. 

The  Secretary  of  Agriculture  has  supervision  over  various 
bureaus,  most  of  which  are  related  to  the  agricultural  interests 
of  the  country;  and  in  this  department  all  but  three  of  the 
officers  and  employees  are  appointed  by  the  Secretary.  His 
work  includes  advisory  relations  to  the  agricultural  experiment 
stations  aided  from  the  national  treasury,  the  control  over  the 
import  and  export  of  cattle,  tne  preservation  and  introduction 
of  birds  and  animals,  and  the  collection  and  diffusion  of  infor- 
mation on  agricultural  matters,  in  the  most  comprehensive 
sense  of  the  term. 

The  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  is  charged  with  pro- 
moting the  commercial  and  industrial  interests,  bringing  under 
general  supervision  a  number  of  bureaus  previously  under 
other  departments.  His  duties  comprise  the  supervision  of 
corporations  (except  railroads)  engaged  in  inter-state  business, 
the  lighthouse  service,  the  coast  and  geodetic  survey,  steam- 
boat inspection,  jurisdiction  over  merchant  vessels,  the  admin- 
istration of  the  immigration  laws,  commercial  statistics,  the 
census  and  labor  statistics. 


CHAPTER   V 

ADMINISTRATIVE  ORGANIZATION 

References. — GOODNOW:  Comparative  Administrative  Law,  I,  38-47,  127- 
133,  159-161;  II,  1-100.— B.  WYMAN:  Principles  of  the  Administra- 
tive Law,  chs,  5-8. — F.  K.  MECHEM:  The  Law  of  Public  Offices  and 
Officers. 

BEFORE  taking  up  in  detail  the  organization  and  functions  of 
the  various  branches  of  the  national  administration,  some 
attention  may  be  given  to  the  general  principles  of  administra- 
tive organization  applied  throughout  the  national  system. 

In  the  chapter  on  the  Cabinet  it  has  been  seen  that  the  larg- 
est units  in  the  national  administration  are  the  executive 
departments.  The  historical  development  of  the  departments 
and  the  distribution  of  functions  among  them  has  also  been 
noted,  as  well  as  the  special  duties  of  the  heads  of  the  depart- 
ments. 

All  of  the  departments  are  further  divided  into  a  varying 
number  of  bureaus,  each  charged  with  some  definite  branch  of 
the  department  work.  In  some  cases  such  branches  of  a 
department  are  classed  as  offices,  commissions,  or,  if  compara- 
tively unimportant,  as  divisions.  Bureaus,  like  departments, 
are  established  by  statutes ;  and  the  Attorney-General  has  held 
that  they  can  be  established  only  by  act  of  Congress,  and  not 
by  an  administrative  regulation  of  the  executive.1 

Bureaus  are  in  turn  often  further  subdivided  into  units 
known  as  divisions,  although  this  term  is  also  applied  to  some 
department  subdivisions  of  the  higher  grade.  The  functions 
of  divisions  may  be  determined  by  a  system  of  subject  classi- 

1 10  Atty.-Gen.  Opinions,  11. 
70 


ADMINISTEATIVE  ORGANIZATION  71 

fication,  as  in  the  Patent  Office,  or  simply  by  a  geographical 
distribution,  as  in  the  Pension  Bureau. 

Corresponding  to  this  hierarchy  of  departmental  subdivi- 
sions there  is  a  similar  hierarchy  of  officials.  Each  depart- 
ment head  has  one  or  more  principal  assistants,  usually  styled 
assistant  secretaries.  These  receive  salaries  from  $4,000  to 
$6,000  a  year ;  and  their  duties  are  determined  not  by  statute, 
but  by  the  assignment  of  the  head  of  the  department,  and  they 
may  vary  from  time  to  time. 

A  good  deal  of  variety  is  displayed  in  the  titles  given  to  the 
chief  officers  of  bureaus.  In  the  more  important  bureaus  they 
are  usually  called  commissioners;  and  with  these  may  be 
ranked  the  directors,  comptrollers  and  the  military  and  naval 
officers  at  the  head  of  the  bureaus  in  the  departments  of  War 
and  the  Navy.  All  of  these  receive  salaries  varying  from 
$4,000  to  $6,000  a  year.  The  heads  of  less  important  bureaus 
are  usually  called  chiefs  of  bureaus ;  and  receive  salaries  from 
$2,000  to  $4,000  a  year.  All  of  the  bureau  heads  have  definite 
statutory  powers,  and  they  are  thus  less  completely  under  the 
control  of  the  department  heads  than  are  the  assistant  secre- 
taries. 

Chiefs  of  divisions  receive  salaries  from  $2,000  to  $3,000  a 
year.  Each  department  and  bureau  has  also  a  chief  clerk  who 
has  the  management  of  the  staff  of  clerks  and  office  assistants. 

In  this  administrative  hierarchy  of  offices  and  officers,  the 
general  principle  has  been  to  place  a  single  official  in  charge  of 
each  office.  This  rule  is  strictly  observed  in  the  nine  Cabinet 
departments ;  and  is  followed  for  the  most  part  in  the  subordi- 
nate bureaus  and  divisions.  But  in  a  few  cases  in  the  latter 
group,  and  also  in  several  of  the  bureaus  not  attached  to  the 
main  departments,  there  are  examples  of  board  organization. 
Such,  for  example,  are  the  Lighthouse  Board,  the  Inter-State 
Commerce  Commission,  and  the  Civil  Service  Commission. 
The  single-head  regime  is,  however,  the  dominant  characteristic 
of  the  national  administration ;  in  striking  contrast  to  state  and 
municipal  administration  in  the  United  States,  where  the  board 


72  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

system  under  an  immense  variety  of  forms  is  a  marked  feature. 

In  addition  to  the  various  officers  and  employees  at  the  cen- 
tral offices  of  the  departments,  bureaus  and  divisions  in  Wash- 
ington, all  of  the  departments  and  many  bureaus  have  corps  of 
local  agents  throughout  the  country.  These  local  officials  of 
the  national  administration  are  all  appointed  either  by  the 
President  and  Senate  or  by  the  department  secretaries.  The 
United  States  national  administration  makes  almost  no  use  of 
state  officers,  or  of  officers  of  the  minor  local  corporations ;  and 
in  this  respect  offers  a  marked  contrast  to  the  administrative 
system  of  the  German  federation,  where  most  of  the  local  offi- 
cials for  the  conduct  of  imperial  administration  are  appointed 
by  the  state  governments.  The  local  agents  of  the  national 
government  are  also  under  the  direct  supervision  and  control 
of  their  superior  officers  in  the  various  departments,  a  super- 
vision exercised  by  means  of  administrative  regulations  and 
appeals,  and  made  effective  by  the  visits  of  traveling  inspectors 
or  special  agents  from  the  central  office  of  each  department. 

As  a  result  of  these  methods  of  appointment  and  control  of 
local  agents  the  United  States  national  administration  is  thor- 
oughly centralized  within  each  department,  differing  to  the 
widest  possible  extent  from  the  radically  decentralized  regime 
in  state  administration  in  this  country.  In  one  respect,  how- 
ever, the  organization  of  the  national  administration  is  less 
completely  centralized  than  that  of  such  a  country  as  France : 
the  various  local  agents  of  each  department  are  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  each  other ;  and  there  are  no  district  agents  of  the 
national  government  with  general  powers  of  supervision  over 
all  the  local  agents,  such  as  the  French  prefects.  There  is  also 
no  national  supervision  over  state  officials  or  local  officials  and 
corporations  created  by  the  states. 

Appointments  to  office  in  the  national  administration,  from 
the  heads  of  departments  to  the  least  important  local  agent, 
seem  to  have  been  conferred,  almost  from  the  beginning  of  the 
government,  largely  on  the  basis  of  political  allegiance.  This 
patronage  system,  the  fundamental  basis  for  the  later  develop- 


ADMINISTEATIVB  OEGANIZATION  73 

ment  of  the  "spoils  system,"  is  an  old  feature  of  all  govern- 
ments ;  and  was  introduced  into  the  national  government  from 
the  previously  existing  methods  in  the  colonies  and  states. 
Even  Washington  laid  down  the  rule  that  only  those  friendly 
to  the  government  ought  to  receive  the  offices.1 

At  first  appointments  were  made  for  no  definite  term ;  and 
were  considered  as  permanent,  except  in  the  case  of  heads  of 
departments.  But  later  the  principle  of  rotation  in  office  was 
introduced,  by  the  four  years'  tenure  rule  and  by  arbitrary 
removals  for  political  reasons.  The  development  of  these  fea- 
tures in  reference  to  presidential  offices  has  already  been  noted, 
in  connection  with  the  powers  of  the  President,2  and  the  situa- 
tion in  reference  to  less  important  offices,  and  even  the  subordi- 
nate class  of  employees,  seems  to  have  followed  the  same  gen- 
ral  course.  Almost  the  whole  administrative  service  of  the 
national  government  came  to  be  used  mainly  for  partisan  pur- 
poses. Not  only  were  positions  given  as  rewards  for  campaign 
service,  but  they  were  often  given  without  any  reference  to 
ability  or  competence,  and  sometimes  without  reference  to 
common  honesty;  while  efficient  and  capable  servants  were 
displaced  to  make  room  for  new  appointments  of  this  sort. 

In  1883  there  was  established  a  system  of  examinations  for 
entrance  to  some  positions ;  and  this  has  been  developed  until  it 
includes  most  of  the  subordinate  employees  in  the  civil  service. 
This  system  will  be  examined  more  closely  in  connection  with 
the  Civil  Service  Commission,  which  has  it  in  charge.3  But  it 
must  be  noted  that  the  presidential  offices  and  most  of  the  other 
offices,  as  distinguished  from  the  employees,  in  the  national 
administration  are  not  directly  affected  by  these  new  methods. 
Local  officers,  whether  formally  appointed  by  the  President  and 
Senate  or  by  the  head  of  a  department,  are  in  practice  usually 
selected  by  Senators  or  Representatives  in  political  harmony 
with  the  President ;  and  allegiance  either  to  the  party  or  to  the 

1  Lodge,  Historical  and  Political  Essays,  p.  117. 
'See  pp.  4,  14. 
8  See  ch.  17. 


74  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

political  interests  of  the  selector  is  a  fundamental  requisite,  to 
which  qualifications  of  ability  and  character  are  made  second- 
ary. In  recent  years,  however,  more  attention  is  given  than 
formerly  to  these  secondary  qualifications. 

It  is  of  some  importance  to  understand  clearly  the  legal 
nature  of  an  office,  and  to  distinguish,  as  far  as  may  be,  the 
officers  from  the  employees  of  the  government.  An  office  has' 
been  held  to  be  ' '  a  public  station  or  employment,  conferred  by 
the  appointment  of  government.  The  term  embraces  the  idea 
of  tenure,  duration,  emolument  and  duties."1  All  of  these 
characteristics  do  not  seem  to  be  essential,  as,  for  example, 
there  are  unsalaried  offices  without  emolument ;  but  the  posses- 
sion of  more  than  one  of  them  seems  to  be  necessary  to  consti- 
tute an  office,  and  to  make  the  incumbent  an  officer.  "Al- 
though an  office  is  an  employment,  it  does  not  follow  that  every 
employment  is  an  office.  A  man  may  certainly  be  employed 
under  a  contract  express  or  implied  to  do  an  act  or  to  perform 
a  service  without  becoming  an  officer. '  '2  In  the  United  States 
national  administration  an  officer  can  only  be  appointed  by  the 
President  and  Senate,  by  a  court  of  law,  or  by  the  head  of  a  de- 
partment ;  and  persons  in  the  service  of  the  government  who 
derive  their  position  from  other  sources  are  not  officers  in  the 
sense  of  the  Constitution."3 

Since  public  offices  are  created  by  law,  and  in  this  country 
are  not  considered  as  property,4  there  is  no  contract  between 
the  "officer  and  the  government ;  and  the  latter  may  at  any  time 
modify  the  duties  of  any  office;  may  (except  in  the  cases 
prohibited  in  the  constitution)  change  the  salary  and  alter  the 
term  of  service ;  or  may  abolish  the  office.5 

Some  attention  may  also  be  given  here  to  the  general  char- 

1U.  S.  v.  Hartwell,  6  Wallace,  385. 

2  C.  J.  Marshall  in  U.  S.  v.  Maurice,  2  Brock  (C.  C.),  96. 

8  U.  S.  v.  Germaine,  99  U.  S.  508 ;  U.  S.  v.  Mouat,  124  U.  S.  303 ;  U. 
S.  V.  Smith,  124  U.  S.  525. 

*  Bank  v.  Okely,  4  Wheaton,  244;  Taylor  v.  Beckham,  178  U.  S.  548,  576. 

8  Butler  v.  Pennsylvania,  10  Howard,  402 ;  Newton  v.  Com  'rs,  100  U.  S. 
548,  559. 


ADMINISTRATIVE  ORGANIZATION  75 

acteristics  of  the  authority  of  public  officers,  as  distinguished 
from  the  specific  authority  of  particular  officers  discussed  in 
other  chapters.  The  authority  conferred  may  be  either  minis- 
terial or  discretionary.  "A  ministerial  duty  ...  is  one  in 
respect  to  which  nothing  is  left  to  discretion.  It  is  a  simple, 
definite  duty,  arising  under  conditions  admitted  or  proved  to 
exist,  and  imposed  by  law. '  '*  Such  ministerial  duties  may  be 
imposed  by  statute,  or,  in  the  case  of  subordinate  officers,  by 
executive  regulations  or  the  instructions  of  superior  officials. 
Discretionary  authority  is  of  varying  grades.  A  law  may 
require  an  officer  to  act  according  to  his  discretion,  making  the 
duty  to  act  imperative,  but  leaving  the  manner  of  acting  to  his 
judgment.  Even  in  more  general  grants  of  discretionary 
power  an  officer's  discretion  is  limited,  by  judicial  construction, 
to  the  evident  purposes  of  the  law,  and  to  what  is  known  as  a 
sound  and  legal  discretion,  excluding  all  arbitrary,  capricious, 
inquisitorial  and  oppressive  proceedings.2 

Kedress  for  misuse  or  neglect  of  official  authority  may  be 
sought  by  administrative  appeals  or  by  legal  proceedings  in 
the  judicial  courts.  In  our  state  governments  administrative 
appeals  very  seldom  exist ;  but  in  the  centralized  national 
system  such  appeals  from  inferior  to  superior  officers  are 
recognized  in  almost  every  branch  of  the  administration. 
These  appeals  are  usually  free  from  the  technical  procedure  of 
the  courts ;  and  in  deciding  them  higher  officials  usually  feel 
free  not  only  to  compel  obedience  to  ministerial  duties,  but 
also  to  overrule  unwise  decisions  of  inferior  officers  within  their 
field  of  discretionary  action. 

Judicial  proceedings  against  official  action  take  a  variety  of 
forms.  For  many  cases  of  misfeasance  or  malfeasance  public 
officers  are  liable  to  criminal  prosecutions.  In  other  cases  a 
remedy  may  be  sought  in  a  civil  suit  for  damages.  While  in 
some  matters  the  courts  will  issue  the  special  writs  of  man- 
damus, injunction,  certiorari,  habeas  corpus,  and  quo  warranto. 

1  State  v.  Johnson,  4  Wallace,  475,  498. 

»U.  S.  v.  Doherty,  27  Fed.  Eep.  790;  TJ.  S.  v.  Kirby,  7  Wallace,  486. 


76  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

In  all  such  cases,  however,  the  judges  are  much  more  careful 
not  to  attempt  to  control  the  legal  discretion  of  officers  than  are 
superior  administrative  officers;  and  on  that  account  judicial 
proceedings  are  not  so  frequent  in  the  national  government, 
where  administrative  appeals  are  freely  provided,  as  in  the 
state  governments. 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OP  STATE 

References. — GAILLARD  HUNT:  The  Department  of  State. — W.  H. 
MICHAEL:  History  of  the  Department  of  State. — E.  SCHUYLER:  Amer- 
ican Diplomacy,  chs.  1-3. — A.  B.  HART  :  Actual  Government,  pp.  430- 
445. — S.  B.  CRANDALL:  Treaties,  Their  Making  and  Their  Enforce- 
ment (Columbia  University  studies  in  Political  Science,  Vol.  21). 

DIPLOMATIC  AND  CONSULAR  SERVICE 

Atlantic  Monthly,  29:300;  74:241;  85:455,  669.— North  American 
Eeview,  122:309;  156:461;  158:412;  159:711;  162:274;  169:349.— 
Political  Science  Quarterly,  13:19. — Century,  26:306;  38:268. — Forum, 
4:519;  6:486;  15:163;  22:673;  25:546,  702;  27:24;  30:28;  32:488.— 
American  Historical  Association,  Eeport  for  1898,  p.  285. 

IN  the  administrative  organization  of  the  United  States 
national  government,  the  department  of  State  corresponds 
most  closely  to  the  department  of  Foreign  Affairs  in  other  gov- 
ernments. But  the  department  of  State  is  not  exclusively 
charged  with  matters  pertaining  to  foreign  relations.  It  has 
also  duties  analogous  to  the  keeper  of  the  seal,  and  still  others 
which  correspond  in  a  slight  degree  to  those  of  a  home  depart- 
ment or  department  of  the  interior  in  European  governments. 

The  fact  that  relations  with  foreign  countries  were  necessary 
was  recognized  early  in  our  history.  Even  before  the  Revolu- 
tion several  of  the  colonies  maintained  representatives  in  Eng- 
land who  interested  themselves  in  securing  for  their  constitu- 
ents favorable  legislation,  commercial  and  otherwise,  and 
secured  protection  to  their  fellow  citizens  who  might  be  travel- 
ing abroad.  In  this  character  Franklin  at  one  time  repre- 
sented several  colonies.  With  the  advent  of  the  Continental 
Congress  the  foreign  relations  of  the  colonies  were  entrusted  to 
committees  called  the  Secret  Committee  of  Correspondence  and 

77 


78  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

the  Committee  of  Foreign  Affairs.  Much  of  the  inefficiency 
and  inadequacy  of  this  method  was  inherent  in  the  plural 
organization.  It  has  been  demonstrated  by  experience  in  most 
modern  countries  that  a  department  of  foreign  affairs,  to  be 
effective,  must  be  vested  in  a  single  responsible  head.  The 
Congress  also  learned  this  lesson  in  time ;  and  in  January,  1781, 
inaugurated  measures  for  the  establishment  of  a  department  of 
Foreign  Affairs,  and  in  the  following  August,  Eobert  R.  Liv- 
ingston of  New  York  was  chosen  as  the  first  Secretary.  The 
office  as  constituted  was,  however,  the  creation  of  Congress,  and 
it  soon  became  evident  that  the  title,  ' '  Secretary  of  the  United 
States  of  America  for  Foreign  Affairs/'  was  a  misnomer  and 
that  the  office  could  be  more  correctly  termed  "Secretary  of 
Congress  for  Foreign  Affairs."  In  1783  Livingston  resigned 
and  John  Jay  was  appointed  to  succeed  him.  The  latter  con- 
tinued to  hold  the  position  until  appointed  by  Washington 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  under  the  constitution. 

After  the  adoption  of  the  constitution,  the  first  Congress 
quickly  established  a  "Department  of  Foreign  Affairs,"  but 
not  long  afterward  changed  the  designation  to  the  "Depart- 
ment of  State,"  evidently  with  a  view  to  placing  under  its 
supervision  matters  not  concerned  with  foreign  relations.  It 
was  then  made  custodian  of  the  seal  of  the  United  States  and 
charged  with  the  promulgation  of  the  laws.  Later  it  was 
given  charge  of  patents  and  copyrights,  the  census,  and 
supervision  of  the  territories.  All  these  latter  duties  were, 
however,  transferred  to  the  department  of  the  Interior  in  1849. 

Under  the  Secretary  of  State,  who  has  general  supervision 
over  the  whole  work  of  the  department,  there  are  an  assistant 
secretary,  a  second  and  a  third  assistant  secretaries,  with  sal- 
aries from  $4,000  to  $4,500,  who  are  charged  with  the  imme- 
diate supervision  of  all  correspondence.  A  chief  clerk  has 
general  oversight  of  the  routine  business,  and  the  control  over 
the  clerks  and  employees.  The  work  of  the  department  is 
classified  and  assigned  to  six  bureaus,  each  of  which  has  a 
bureau  chief  and  a  force  of  clerks  aggregating  sixty  in  number, 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  STATE  79 

and  a  few  other  employees,  making  a  total  of  ninety  persons  in 
the  Washington  service  of  the  department.  This  is  much  the 
smallest  of  the  departmental  services. 

The  diplomatic  bureau  has  charge  of  the  correspondence 
with  the  diplomatic  agents  of  the  government,  most  of  which 
is  later  published  in  the  volumes  of  Foreign  Relations,  which 
began  in  1861.  From  the  rulings  laid  down  in  this  correspond- 
ence, the  decisions  of  the  United  States  courts  and  the  opinions 
of  the  attorneys-general,  there  was  prepared  in  1886  a  Digest 
of  the  International  Law  of  the  United  States,  by  Francis 
Wharton,  then  solicitor  of  the  department. 

The  consular  bureau  has  charge  of  the  correspondence  with 
consular  agents.  It  also  prepares  the  volume  of  Consular 
Regulations,  first  issued  in  1855  and  revised  from  time  to  time 
since  that  date. 

The  bureau  of  indexes  and  archives  opens,  indexes  and 
registers  all  correspondence  of  the  department,  prepares  the 
annual  volume  of  Foreign  Relations,  and  preserves  the  official 
archives  of  the  department. 

The  bureau  of  rolls  and  library  has  charge  of  the  promul- 
gation and  custody  of  the  statutes  and  treaties  of  the  United 
States,  and  of  executive  proclamations,  orders  and  announce- 
ments; and  also  has  the  care  of  the  Revolutionary  archives, 
other  manuscript  papers  and  the  records  of  international  com- 
missions. This  bureau  also  has  charge  of  the  department 
library. 

The  bureau  of  accounts  has  the  supervision  and  record  of 
all  moneys  received  and  disbursed  by  the  department,  includ- 
ing the  accounts  of  the  department  staff,  of  the  diplomatic  and 
consular  service,  and  of  international  indemnities  or  trust 
funds.  It  also  has  charge  of  the  issue  of  passports. 

The  bureau  of  appointments  has  charge  of  applications  and 
recommendations  for  offices  under  the  department;  and  also 
prepares  exequaturs  and  warrants  of  extradition. 

In  1903  the  bureau  of  foreign  commerce  of  the  department 


80  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTBATION 

of  State  was  transferred  to  the  newly  created  department  of 
Commerce  and  Labor. 

Besides  these  permanent  bureaus,  various  special  and  tem- 
porary commissions  dealing  with  international  affairs  are 
appointed  from  time  to  time,  which  are  connected  with  the 
department  of  State.  Such  are  the  Reciprocity  Commission, 
the  Louisiana  Purchase  Exposition  Commission,  the  United 
States  and  Mexico  Water  Boundary  Commission,  and  the  Inter- 
national Prison  Commission. 

The  tenure  of  office  in  the  department  of  State  has  been 
much  more  permanent  than  in  any  other  department.  This 
was  true  of  the  clerks  and  bureau  chiefs  even  before  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  civil  service  examinations;  while  even  the 
assistant  Secretaries  of  State  have  usually  been  selected  by 
promotion  and  have  retained  their  offices  despite  political 
changes  in  the  presidency.  William  Hunter  was  assistant 
Secretary  of  State  for  over  fifty  years.  Another  assistant 
Secretary,  A.  A.  Adee,  was  first  appointed  to  the  diplomatic 
service  in  1870,  has  been  in  the  department  of  State  since  1877, 
and  has  held  his  present  position  since  1886. 

It  is  not  sufficient  for  the  satisfactory  management  of  foreign 
relations  to  have  a  department  of  foreign  affairs,  but  every 
organized  government  has  found  it  necessary  to  maintain  offi- 
cial representatives  in  other  countries.  Before  the  develop- 
ment of  postal  and  telegraphic  communication,  such  agents 
were  absolutely  essential  to  the  conduct  of  any  negotiations 
between  two  governments ;  and  even  under  present  conditions 
there  are  so  many  matters  which  can  be  so  much  better 
arranged  by  personal  discussion  than  by  correspondence  that 
the  tendency  has  been  to  increase  rather  than  to  decrease  the 
staff  of  agents  sent  abroad. 

Such  agents  are  now  divided  into  two  distinct  branches :  the 
diplomatic  service  and  the  consular  service ;  the  former  dealing 
with  the  relations  of  one  government  to  another,  and  the  latter 
mainly  with  the  interests  of  citizens  of  one  or  both  govern- 
ments, usually  in  commercial  matters.  Like  other  countries, 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OP  STATE  81 

the  United  States  has  both  a  diplomatic  service  and  a  consular 
service,  both  of  which  must  be  now  examined. 

THE  DIPLOMATIC  SERVICE 

During  the  Middle  Ages  consular  officials  often  exercised 
functions  now  considered  as  diplomatic.  But  with  the  devel- 
opment of  diplomacy,  special  agents  were  used  for  the  nego- 
tiation of  treaties,  and  gradually  the  present  system  of 
diplomatic  officials  was  established.  For  some  time  there  was 
no  general  custom  determining  the  rank  and  authority  of 
different  diplomatic  agents;  but  the  Congress  of  Vienna  in 
1815  adopted  certain  rules,  which,  as  amended  in  1818,  have 
been  followed  in  all  other  countries  and  have  been  formally 
accepted  by  the  United  States.1  Under  these  rules,  there  are 
now  four  classes  of  diplomatic  agents,  ranking  as  follows: 
First,  ambassadors,  legates,  or  nuncios;  second,  envoys,  or 
ministers  plenipotentiary;  third,  ministers  resident;  and 
fourth,  charges  d'affaires.  The  first  three  classes  of  agents  are 
accredited  to  the  chief  executive  of  a  foreign  government ;  the 
fourth  class  are  accredited  only  to  the  minister  or  secretary  of 
foreign  affairs.  Formerly  ambassadors  were  considered  as  the 
personal  representatives  of  the  chief  executive  and  had  the 
special  right  to  conduct  negotiations  in  person  with  the  chief 
executive  of  the  country  to  which  they  were  accredited.  But 
in  recent  practice,  all  official  negotiations  are  carried  on 
through  the  minister  of  foreign  affairs,  and  ambassadors  differ 
from  other  ministers  only  in  rank  and  social  precedence. 

The  first  American  diplomatic  agent  was  Silas  Deane,  sent  in 
1776  as  an  envoy  of  the  revolting  colonies  to  secure  assistance 
from  France.  Later  Franklin  and  others  were  also  sent  as 
temporary  envoys;  and  after  the  capture  of  Yorktown,  Jay, 
Adams,  Franklin  and  Laurens  were  appointed  agents  to  nego- 
tiate the  treaty  of  peace.  The  first  permanent  envoy  was 
Thomas  Jefferson,  Minister  to  France  during  the  latter  years 
of  the  Confederation.  Even  after  the  establishment  of  the  gov- 

1  Schuyler,  American  Diplomacy,  107. 


82  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTKATION 

ernment  under  the  constitution,  the  diplomatic  service  devel- 
oped slowly.  In  1790  a  charge  d'affaires  was  sent  to  Spain, 
and  in  1792  a  minister  to  Great  Britain.  The  first  minister  to 
Russia  was  John  Quincy  Adams  in  1809 ;  and  none  was  sent  to 
Austria-Hungary  until  1838.  By  1886  there  were  in  the  diplo- 
matic service  of  the  United  States  fifteen  envoys  extraordinary 
and  ministers  plenipotentiary,  sixteen  ministers  resident,  one 
charge  d'affaires  and  one  diplomatic  agent.  Opposition  to 
official  recognition  to  social  distinctions  prevented  the  creation 
of  ambassadors,  to  the  advantage  of  our  representatives  in  the 
principal  countries  in  Europe ;  but  in  1893  the  highest  class  of 
diplomatic  offices  was  established. 

At  present  the  United  States  has  seven  ambassadors— to 
Great  Britain,  France,  Germany,  Russia,  Italy,  Austria-Hun- 
gary and  Mexico— each  of  these  countries  sending  an  ambas- 
sador to  the  United  States.  There  are  further  envoys 
extraordinary  and  ministers  plenipotentiary  accredited  to 
thirty-four  governments,  and  also  one  minister  resident,  two 
diplomatic  agents  and  one  charge  d'affaires.  Among  these, 
however,  six  officials  are  accredited  to  more  than  one  govern- 
ment. One  man  serves  as  envoy  to  Greece,  Roumania  and 
Servia ;  and  at  the  same  time  is  diplomatic  agent  at  Bulgaria. 
Thus  the  forty-five  posts  are  filled  by  thirty-six  officers.  These 
officers  give  the  United  States  a  diplomatic  representative  to 
every  government  of  Europe,  except  Montenegro  and  some 
almost  infinitesimal  states,  to  every  American  government  and 
to  those  governments  of  Asia  and  Africa  with  which  the  United 
States  has  any  relations. 

Most  of  the  diplomatic  agencies  have,  in  addition  to  the  prin- 
cipal officer,  one  or  more  secretaries  of  legation,  who  may  also 
act  as  charge  d'affaires  in  the  absence  of  the  minister.  The 
most  important  offices  have  three  secretaries;  a  number  of 
others  have  two ;  and  there  are  all  together  fifty-one  secretaries 
at  thirty-six  agencies.  At  the  most  important  agencies  there  is 
a  military  or  naval  officer  assigned  as  an  attache ;  and  in  some 
cases  both  a  military  and  naval  attache.  In  China  there  are 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  STATE  83 

eight  student  interpreters ;  and  in  each  of  the  five  other  Asiatic 
countries  to  which  we  send  a  minister  there  is  an  interpreter. 
The  total  number  of  persons  in  the  diplomatic  service  is  one 
hundred  and  seventeen. 

Besides  the  permanent  diplomatic  service,  special  commis- 
sioners are  often  appointed  to  negotiate  a  treaty  or  for  some 
other  particular  purpose.  Such  were  the  delegates  to  The 
Hague  conference  on  arbitration,  and  the  members  of  the 
recent  Alaskan  boundary  commission. 

The  diplomatic  officials  are  appointed  by  the  President  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate.  No  special  qualifications 
are  formally  required,  either  as  to  their  command  of  foreign 
languages  or  their  acquaintance  with  international  law  and 
diplomatic  usages.  After  appointment  a  minister  is  allowed 
not  more  than  thirty  days  with  salary  to  acquaint  himself  with 
the  instructions  of  the  department  of  State.  Appointments  are 
for  no  fixed  term ;  but  after  a  change  in  party  control  of  the 
presidency  there  is  an  almost  complete  change  made  at  once  in 
the  personnel  of  the  diplomatic  service ;  while  even  apart  from 
any  political  change  the  tenure  of  diplomatic  officials  is  seldom 
more  than  a  few  years.  The  only  case  of  a  United  States  min- 
ister to  an  important  country  serving  for  a  long  period  is 
George  P.  Marsh,  who  was  minister  to  Italy  from  1861  to  1882. 

Of  the  thirty-six  diplomatic  agents  of  the  United  States  in 
office  in  September,  1903,  twenty-five  had  first  entered  the 
service  after  March,  1897 ;  while  of  the  eleven  first  appointed 
before  that  date,  seven  had  been  out  of  office  for  some  time 
after  their  first  appointment.  Only  four  of  these  officials  had 
been  first  appointed  under  a  democratic  administration;  and 
only  one  began  his  diplomatic  career  earlier  than  1890.  The 
single  exception  is  W.  W.  Thomas,  minister  to  Sweden,  who 
was  first  appointed  to  that  post  in  1883,  was  retired  in  1885, 
reappointed  in  1889,  again  retired  in  1894,  and  reappointed 
for  the  third  time  in  1897. 

No  more  permanent  are  the  secretaries  of  legation.  Forty- 
two  out  of  the  fifty-one  began  their  diplomatic  service  after 


84  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

March,  1897 ;  while  five  of  the  other  nine  had  been  retired  for 
some  years  between  their  first  appointment  and  their  present 
commission.  Only  five  of  the  total  number  were  first  ap- 
pointed under  a  democratic  administration;  and  only  three 
entered  the  service  before  1890.  Henry  Vignaud,  now  secre- 
tary of  the  legation  at  Paris,  has  been  continuously  in  the 
diplomatic  service  since  1875.  Henry  White,  secretary  of 
legation  at  London,  was  first  appointed  in  1883,  but  was  retired 
from  1893  to  1897 ;  and  Richard  R.  Neill  has  been  secretary  of 
legation  at  Lima,  Peru,  since  1884.1 

Under  President  Roosevelt,  some  steps  have  been  taken 
towards  giving  the  diplomatic  service  a  more  permanent  basis. 
Recent  vacancies  in  the  higher  posts  have  been  filled  by  trans- 
fer and  promotion  from  less  important  positions  in  the  service. 
But  in  the  event  of  another  party  change  in  the  presidency  the 
fact  that  the  diplomatic  offices  are  now  filled  almost  entirely  by 
one  party  would  no  doubt  be  made  an  excuse  for  a  new  set  of 
appointees. 

In  other  countries  the  diplomatic  service  is  considered  a 
special  and  permanent  career.  Entrance  to  it  requires  knowl- 
edge of  both  French  and  English,  and  often  of  other  languages, 
while  in  France  at  least  a  period  of  special  training  in  inter- 
national law  and  diplomacy  is  also  demanded.  Diplomatic 
agents  are  frequently  changed  from  place  to  place,— Lord 
Pauneefote's  service  of  fourteen  years  as  British  ambassador 
at  Washington  was  very  exceptional.  But  in  all  important 
European  countries  changes  do  not  ordinarily  mean  removal 
from  the  service,  but  transfer  from  one  country  to  another, 
usually  by  way  of  promotion  to  fill  vacancies  caused  by  death 
or  retirement. 

In  spite  of  the  inefficient  methods  of  recruiting  and  main- 
taining the  diplomatic  service,  the  most  important  places  have 
usually  been  filled  by  men  of  character  and  ability.  A  num- 
ber of  ministers  to  foreign  countries  later  became  Presidents, 
as  John  Adams,  Jefferson,  Monroe,  John  Quincy  Adams,  Van 

1  Cf .  Summary  of  Finance  and  Commerce,  September,  1903. 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  STATE  85 

Buren  and  Buchanan.  Others  have  been  important  Cabinet 
secretaries,  as  Gallatin,  Bancroft,  Cass,  Bayard  and  Hay. 
Many  of  the  best  known  American  authors  have  also  filled 
important  diplomatic  posts,  and  their  life  abroad  has  added  to 
the  value  of  American  literature,  but  it  may  be  doubted 
whether  these  appointments  have  been  most  effective  in  diplo- 
matic negotiations.  There  can  also  be  little  question  that  our 
diplomatic  service  can  be  made  much  stronger  if  the  posts  were 
filled  by  men  versed  in  diplomatic  affairs  rather  than  by  those 
who  secure  the  places  simply  for  the  sake  of  the  salary  or  for 
a  few  years  *  vacation  in  a  foreign  country. 

Salaries  and  allowances  to  United  States  ministers  are  much 
below  those  paid  by  other  governments.  They  range  from 
$17,500  to  $4,000 ;  while  the  large  European  powers  pay  their 
principal  ambassadors  from  $40,000  to  $50,000,  and  in  addi- 
tion maintain  a  legation  house.  An  American  ambassador 
must  spend  a  great  deal  more  than  his  salary  to  maintain  the 
dignity  of  his  position.  Secretaries  of  legation  receive  from 
$1,600  to  $2,625,  and  the  low  maximum  may  well  have  some- 
thing to  do  with  the  frequent  changes  of  personnel  in  this 
branch  of  the  service. 

THE  CONSULAR  SERVICE 

The  origin  of  the  consular  service  of  modern  governments 
can  be  traced  to  commercial  magistrates  of  ancient  times  hav- 
ing jurisdiction  over  seamen,  vessels  and  merchandise.  The 
modern  system,  however,  may  be  said  to  begin  with  the  estab- 
lishment of  commercial  agents  in  the  East  by  the  Italian  mer- 
chants during  the  revival  of  commerce  which  accompanied  and 
followed  the  crusades ;  and  the  old  Koman  title  of  consul,  which 
had  descended  to  the  municipal  magistrates  of  the  south  Euro- 
pean towns,  was  easily  transferred  to  the  new  officials.  The 
right  of  appointing  these  consuls  soon  passed  from  the  mer- 
chants to  the  governments  of  the  Italian  cities.  The  Hansa 
towns,  England  and  later  Prance  inaugurated  a  similar  sys- 
tem, which  has  now  become  general  in  all  civilized  govern- 
ments. 


86  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

As  early  as  1780  a  consul  to  France  was  appointed  by  the 
Continental  Congress;1  and- after  the  establishment  of  the  new 
government  under  the  constitution,  Washington  appointed  a 
number  of  consuls  without  any  statutory  organization  of  the 
service.  In  1792  Congress  passed  a  law  recognizing  the  service 
and  imposing  certain  duties  on  consular  officers.  The  service 
continued  to  develop  without  any  systematic  regulation  until 
1856.  An  act  of  that  year  fixed  salaries  and  prohibited  the 
consuls  at  important  posts  from  engaging  in  trade  on  their  own 
account.  In  1864  a  body  of  consular  clerks  was  established, 
with  the  intention  of  recruiting  the  service  from  their  ranks; 
but  this  intention  has  never  been  effectively  carried  out. 

At  the  present  time  (1903)  the  United  States  has  324  con- 
sular offices  in  all  parts  of  the  world ;  and  about  750  persons 
employed  in  the  consular  service.  The  consular  offices  are 
grouped  in  three  schedules:  schedule  B  includes  the  offices 
whose  incumbents  are  salaried  and  are  not  permitted  to.  engage 
in  trade,  of  which  there  are  48  consulates  general,  210  con- 
sulates and  10  commercial  agencies ;  schedule  C  includes  8 
consulates  and  commercial  agencies,  whose  incumbents  -receive 
small  fixed  salaries,  but  are  at  the  same  time  allowed  to  engage 
in  Business ;  and  the  third  schedule  includes  34  consulates  and 
20  commercial  agencies,  whose  incumbents  are  paid  altogether 
by  fees  and  are  allowed  to  engage  in  business. 

There  are  ten  grades  of  consular  officers,  ranking  in  the  fol- 
lowing order :  Consuls  general,  vice  consuls  general,  deputy 
consuls  general, 'consuls,  vice  consuls,  deputy  consuls,  com- 
mercial agents,  vice  .commercial  agents,  deputy  commercial 
agents  and  consular  agents.  There  are  also,  in  subordinate 
positions,  consular  clerks5  interpreters,  marshals  and  clerks  at 
consulates.  Some  of  the  consular  officers  in  the  United  States 
service  occupy  somewhat  different  positions  from  that  occupied 
by  officials  of  other  countries  with  the  same  title.  Consuls  gen- 
eral, who  are  sent  to  the  capital  of  each  country,  are  not  merely 
higher -in  rank,  but  have  a  general  supervision  over  all  other 
1  Political  Science  Quarterly,  XIII,  27. 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  STATE  37 

consular  officers  in  the  country.  Vice  and  deputy  consuls  are 
seldom  placed  in  charge  of  an  independent  office;  but  are 
usually  assigned  to  offices  in  charge  of  a  consul,  and  are  for  the 
most  part  honorary  positions  with  no  salaries.  Commercial 
agents  are  often  appointed  to  posts  where  other  governments 
appoint  a  vice  consul  or  deputy  consul  and  the  inferior  title 
of  the  American  official  sometimes  acts  as  a  handicap. 

The  functions  of  consuls  are  of  a  varied  and  miscellaneous 
character,  which  demand  for  their  successful  performance  a 
wide  range  of  ability  and  experience.  While  most  of  their 
time  is  taken  up  with  questions  concerning  individual  Amer- 
ican citizens,  they  have  also  certain  duties  as  agents  of  the 
national  government.  To  some  extent  they  are  charged  with 
watching  the  execution  of  treaties,  particularly  those  confer- 
ring rights  and  privileges  on  American  citizens,  and  must 
report  any  infringement  of  such  treaties.  They  also  observe 
and  report  the  movement  of  naval  forces  on  the  coast  near  the 
.port  at  which  they  are  stationed.  In  time  of  war  these  duties 
become  of  increased  importance,  whether  in  protecting  the 
rights  of  Americans  as  neutrals,  or  in  preventing  assistance 
being  given  to  an  enemy  of  the  United  States.  They  may  also 
be  called  on  to  purchase  coal  and  other  supplies  for  the  United 
States  as  an  aid  to  military  or  naval  operations. 

In  peaceful  times  and  in  most  civilized  countries,  the  consuls 
act  for  the  most  part  as  commercial  officials.  They  give  aid 
and  advice  to  the  merchant  vessels  of  the  United  States  and  to 
American  seamen  in  distress,  assisting  many  of  the  latter  to 
return  to  the  United  States.  They  settle  disputes  between 
captains  and  seamen  and  investigate  shipwrecks  of  American 
vessels.  They  must  also  keep  informed  of  developments  in 
commerce  and  manufactures  within  their  district,  and  report 
on  conditions  which  may  affect  the  commercial  opportunities  of 
the  United  States.  American  consuls  have  laid  on  them  the 
special  duty  of  verifying  invoices  of  goods  shipped  to  the 
United  States  and  inspecting  the  manifests  of  vessels  bound  to 
this  country,  as  a  means  of  enforcing  the  tariff  laws. 


88  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

Closely  related  to  these  commercial  functions  is  the  duty  of 
reporting  on  epidemic  diseases  or  other  sanitary  conditions 
which  might  lead  to  the  introduction  of  some  contagious  dis- 
ease into  the  United  States. 

Consuls  are  also  to  no  little  extent  judicial  officers.  Every- 
where they  act  as  probate  judges  and  public  administrators  on 
the  estates  of  deceased  Americans  leaving  property  within  their 
district.  At  all  ports,  too,  they  exercise  a  sort  of  police  juris- 
diction over  offenses  committed  on  American  vessels  on  the 
high  seas.  In  most  of  the  Asiatic  countries  their  judicial 
powers  are  much  more  extensive.  By  treaties  with  China, 
Turkey  and  the  other  Eastern  powers,  American  consuls  have 
a  general  criminal  jurisdiction  over  United  States  citizens 
charged  with  committing  crime  in  these  countries,  and  also  a 
civil  jurisdiction  in  cases  where  a  United  States  citizen  is  a 
party  to  a  suit.  In  these  countries,  consuls  also  perform  mar- 
riages and  grant  divorces.  These  special  judicial  powers  in 
Eastern  countries  are  similar  to  those  possessed  by  consuls  of 
the  European  governments;  but  the  American  consular  juris- 
diction and  procedure  is  not  well  systematized.  The  only 
appeals  provided  for  are  from  the  consular  courts  in  China  to 
the  United  States  Circuit  Court  in  California. 

Besides  the  duties  imposed  by  statutes  and  regulations,  con- 
suls are  called  on  for  various  social  functions.  They  are  ex- 
pected to  welcome  American  travelers,  to  assist  those  in  any 
distress,  and  to  give  special  attention  to  the  more  distinguished 
visitors.  They  have  also  social  duties  towards  the  local  officials 
and  important  residents  of  their  district,  which  if  creditably 
performed  may  serve  to  add  greatly  to  their  influence  as  com- 
mercial officials. 

Consuls  at  all  the  more  important  posts  receive  fixed  salaries, 
ranging  from  $1,000  to  $5,000,  but  there  are  only  a  few 
posts  where  the  salary  is  over  $3,500,  as  at  London,  Liverpool, 
Paris,  Berlin,  Melbourne,  Calcutta,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Mexico  and 
Yokohama.  The  maximum  salaries  are  much  smaller  than 
those  paid  by  the  other  important  commercial  nations,  which 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  STATE  89 

pay  their  principal  consuls  from  $10,000  to  $15,000  a  year. 
But  the  American  consuls  also  receive  certain  fees,  which  at 
some  posts  add  very  materially  to  their  income.  At  London 
the  fees  add  $35,000  a  year,  and  at  Paris  $20,000.  What  are 
known  as  official  fees  go  directly  to  the  government ;  but  there 
are  also  notarial  fees  and  other  payments  received  by  the  con- 
suls for  special  services  to  private  individuals,— such  as  admin- 
istering an  estate,— which  they  retain.  The  unsalaried  con- 
sular officers  retain  official  as  well  as  unofficial  fees,  and  are 
paid  altogether  in  this  way. 

Consuls  are  appointed  by  the  President  and  Senate,  and 
places  of  financial  importance  have  in  most  cases  been  given  as 
rewards  for  party  services.  Before  1895  there  were  no  quali- 
fications or  restrictions  whatever;  but  in  that  year  President 
Cleveland  issued  an  executive  order,  which  marks  the  first  step 
in  the  direction  of  a  more  efficierft  service.  This  order  pro- 
vided that  consulates  paying  salaries  between  $1,000  and 
$2,500  should  be  filled  in  one  of  three  ways :  first,  by  transfer 
or  promotion  from  other  positions  under  the  department  of 
State ;  second,  by  the  reappointment  of  a  person  who  had  been 
in  the  service  at  some  previous  time;  and  third,  by  appoint- 
ment after  an  examination  of  candidates  held  by  the  depart- 
ment of  State.  But  the  examination  is  neither  competitive  nor 
open  to  all  comers;  the  President  selects  the  candidates  and 
there  is  usually  no  competition.  Hence  the  examination  is  but 
a  mere  formality,  although  opening  a  way  for  the  future 
development  of  an  effective  system.  Appointments  to  more 
important  posts  by  promotions  from  the  lower  posts  have  been 
more  frequent  during  the  last  few  years. 

No  definite  term  is  fixed  for  consular  officers,  but,  as  in  the 
diplomatic  service,  every  party  change  in  the  presidential  office 
is  followed  by  sweeping  changes  in  the  personnel  of  the  con- 
sular service,  substituting  inexperienced  and  often  incom- 
petent officers  for  those  who  have  gained  some  knowledge  of 
and  practice  in  their  duties.  At  first  sight,  the  records  of  the 
staff  now  in  office  (1903)  seem  to  indicate  a  much  larger  pro- 


90  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

portion  of  officers  who  have  been  in  the  service  for  a  consider- 
able time  than  is  the  case  in  the  diplomatic  service.  There  are 
nearly  200  consular  officials  whose  first  appointment  was  made 
before  1897.  But  closer  examination  shows  that  these  are 
mostly  officers  in  the  unprofitable  positions  of  vice  and  deputy 
consuls  and  commercial  agents;  while  the  posts  which  pay  a 
comfortable  salary  have  for  the  most  part  been  filled  since 
1897. 

Some  of  the  exceptional  cases  may  be  noted.  Perhaps  the 
most  significant  is  that  of  Consul-General  Mason  at  Berlin,  who 
was  appointed  as  consul  at  Basel  in  1880,  has  since  served  at 
Marseilles  and  Frankfort,  and  finally  was  promoted  to  his  pres- 
ent post  in  1898.  He  is  the  only  consular  officer  with  a  salary 
of  over  $3,500  whose  first  appointment  was  made  before  1897. 
Consul  Fowler  at  Chefoo,  a  $3,000  post,  entered  the  service  in 
1890;  Consul  Roosevelt  at  Brussels  has  been  in  the  service 
since  1878 ;  the  consul  at  Nassau,  N.  P.,  was  appointed  in  1877 ; 
the  consul  at  Maracaibo  has  been  at  that  post  since  1878 ;  the 
consul  at  Bristol  first  entered  the  service  in  1882 ;  and  the  con- 
sul at  Messina  in  1889.  But  as  yet  such  cases  are  notable 
exceptions,  which  illustrate  what  should  become  the  general 
rule. 

A  small  group  of  permanent  attaches  of  the  consular  service 
are  the  consular  clerks,  authorized  by  the  statute  of  1864. 
These  may  be  removed  only  for  cause  reported  to  Congress. 
Several  of  these  clerks  also  hold  honorary  positions  as  vice- 
consuls,  but  the  original  purpose  of  using  these  posts  as  a 
means  of  training  experts  for  the  important  salaried  posts  has 
never  been  fulfilled. 

In  other  countries,  the  consular  service,  like  the  diplomatic 
service,  is  considered  a  permanent  career,  entrance  to  which  is 
secured  only  after  giving  proof  of  special  qualifications  for  the 
duties  to  be  performed.  In  France  the  whole  service  is  effect- 
ively guarded  against  incompetent  officials.  In  Great  Britain 
some  qualifications  are  required  from  all  appointees;  and  for 
the  service  in  Eastern  countries  a  rigid  system  of  special  train- 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  STATE  91 

ing  is  insisted  on,  with  particular  reference  to  the  judicial 
duties  so  important  at  these  posts. 

One  feature  of  the  American  methods  which  has  been  criti- 
cized is  the  custom  of  appointing  naturalized  citizens  as  con- 
suls to  the  country  of  their  birth.  This  probably  has  the  one 
advantage  of  securing  some  officials  who  can  speak  the  language 
of  the  country  to  which  they  go.  But  it  often  happens  that 
these  naturalized  Americans  are  unsuited  to  act  effectively  as 
the  representatives  of  the  United  States  in  such  communities, 
owing  to  their  former  political  or  social  relations. 

Various  attempts  have  been  made  to  secure  a  reorganization 
of  the  consular  service,  both  from  within  the  government  and 
from  mercantile  organizations  interested  in  an  efficient  service. 
But  as  yet  these  attempts  have  failed  of  success. 


CHAPTER   VII 
THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TREASURY— I 

References. — D.  E.  DEWEY:  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  ch. 
21. — H.  C.  ADAMS:  The  Science  of  Finance,  pp.  194-201. — EGBERT 
MAYO:  The  Treasury  Department  and  Its  Various  Fiscal  Bureaus 
(1847). — Harper's  Monthly,  44:481. — Scribner's  Magazine,  5:657; 
33:400. — Cosmopolitan,  25:355. — Senate  Eeports,  1888,  No.  507 
(50th  Congress,  1st  session),  Vols.  1-3. 

CUSTOMS  ADMINISTRATION 

Customs  Eegulations  of  the  United  States. — J.  D.  Goss:  The  History 
of  Tariff  Administration  in  the  United  States  (Columbia  University 
Studies  in  Political  Science,  Vol.  1). — A.  S.  BOLLES:  The  Financial  His- 
tory of  the  United  States,  II,  486-501;  III,  489-522. — Political  Science 
Quarterly,  1:36;  2:265;  13:273. — North  American  Review,  158:222. — 
American  Social  Science  Journal,  9:132. — American  Law  Review,  2:653. 
— Harper's  Monthly,  69:38;  73:909. — Forum,  29:54. — Journal  of  Polit- 
ical Economy,  3: 39. — Gassier 's  Magazine,  15:373. — United  Service,  2:454, 
579;  3:38-380. 

INTERNAL  EEVENUE  ADMINISTRATION 

F.  C.  HOWE:  Taxation  and  Taxes  in  the  United  States,  ch.  7. — Senate 
Executive  Documents,  37th  Congress,  3d  session,  No.  20. — House  Reports, 
49th  Congress,  1st  session,  Vol.  11,  No.  3209. — American  Law  Review, 
2 : 240. — Chautauquan,  16 : 288. 

IN  the  main  the  department  of  the  Treasury  has  to  do  with 
the  finances  of  the  government  and  the  government  control 
over  the  currency ;  but  in  the  past  many  other  matters  in  no 
ways  related  to  either  of  these  have  been  assigned  to  this  depart- 
ment, and  a  few  miscellaneous  bureaus  of  this  sort  are  still 
attached  to  it.  Before  taking  up  in  detail  the  different  services 
connected  with  {his  department,  it  will  be  of  interest  to  trace 
the  beginnings  of  a  financial  system  during  the  Revolutionary 
War  and  the  development  of  the  department  as  a  whole  since 
the  adoption  of  the  constitution. 


THE  DEPABTMENT  OF  THE  TEEASUEY— I      93 

In  this  most  difficult  branch  of  government,  the  administra- 
tion of  finances,  the  colonies  had  had  only  the  most  primitive 
experience,  and  had  never  required  any  elaborate  organization 
of  officials.  When,  in  1775,  the  Continental  Congress  found 
itself  with  $3,000,000  in  promises  to  pay,  it  appointed  in  July 
of  that  year  two  treasurers  to  receive,  safeguard  and  pay  out 
the  funds  for  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  In  September  of  the 
same  year  a  committee  of  claims  was  established  to  examine 
and  report  on  claims  against  the  Congress.  These  preliminary 
measures  were  followed  on  February  17, 1776,  by  the  formation 
of  the  germ  of  the  Treasury  department.  A  standing  com- 
mittee of  five  members  of  Congress  was  appointed  to  super- 
intend the  minor  officials  and  also  to  act  as  a  modern  committee 
on  ways  and  means.  On  April  1, 1776,  a  new  office  was  estab- 
lished—the Treasury  office  of  accounts— with  an  auditor- 
general  at  its  head,  to  examine  and  audit  accounts.  Disputed 
bills  continued  for  a  short  time  to  go  to  the  committee  on 
claims,  but  in  July  their  work  was  turned  over  to  the  Treasury 
board. 

With  the  increase  of  financial  business  caused  by  enlarged 
military  operations  and  the  borrowing  of  funds,  additional 
machinery  was  required;  and  special  committees  were  fre- 
quently appointed  to  assist  the  Treasury  officials,  and  changes 
were  also  made  in  the  membership  of  the  Treasury  board.  In 
August,  1778,  a  standing  committee  on  finance  was  established, 
of  which  Robert  Morris  was  made  chairman.  On  September 
26,  1778,  the  entire  system  was  remodeled.  Provision  was 
made  for  a  comptroller,  auditor,  treasurer  and  two  chambers  of 
accounts  of  three  members  each— all  these  officials  to  be  ap- 
pointed annually  by  Congress.  The  Treasury  office  of  accounts 
was  superseded  by  these  new  officials,  but  the  Treasury  board 
was  retained.  July  30,  1779,  the  Treasury  board  was  reorgan- 
ized, the  new  board  consisting  of  two  delegates  in  Congress  and 
three  commissioners  not  members,  all  to  be  chosen  annually  by 
Congress. 

This  system  of  boards,  which  had  been  adopted  not  only  for 


94  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

the  financial  administration,  but  for  all  the  other  administra- 
tive divisions— the  army,  the  navy,  and  foreign  affairs— was 
probably  adapted  from  the  existing  British  authorities.  All 
of  the  boards  or  committees  were  constantly  shifting  in 
membership,  while  petty  jealousies  and  local  prejudices  hin- 
dered and  opposed  action,  so  that  even  where  decisive  action 
was  most  essential  there  was  only  hesitancy  and  delay.  There 
were  constant  complaints  against  the  several  boards  and  several 
investigations;  the  demand  for  an  improved  system  became 
general,  and  after  long  discussion  early  in  1781  provision  was 
made  for  single  heads  for  the  four  most  important  departments 
of  Foreign  Affairs,  Finance,  the  Army,  and  the  Navy. 

On  February  20,  1781,  Robert  Morris  was  elected  Superin- 
tendent of  Finances,  and  in  September  of  that  year,  a  new 
plan  being  arranged,  the  old  Treasury  board  went  out  of  exist- 
ence, and  other  offices  in  the  previous  financial  system  were 
replaced  by  a  comptroller,  treasurer,  register,  auditors  and 
clerks.  The  failure  of  the  attempt  to  establish  a  system  of 
taxation  led  to  Morris '  resignation  (November,  1784)  ;  and  on 
this  a  new  Treasury  board  of  three  members  was  constituted, 
which  continued  in  existence  during  the  remaining  years  of 
the  Confederation.  During  all  of  this  period  there  were  no 
taxes  levied  by  the  Congress,  and  no  local  machinery  of  assess- 
ors and  collectors  under  the  control  of  the  central  government. 
.The  funds  of  Congress  were  those  received  by  loans  and  on 
requisitions  on  the  states.  The  latter  had  complete  control  of 
all  the  machinery  of  tax  administration  for  both  direct  and 
indirect  taxes. 

In  the  first  Congress  under  the  constitution  there  was  some 
attempt  to  continue  the  board  system  for  the  Finance  depart- 
ment ;  but  this  was  not  successful,  and  a  single  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  was  provided,  with  subordinate  officers  similar  to 
those  which  had  existed  under  the  Articles  of  Confederation. 
But  in  the  act  organizing  the  Treasury  department  there  were 
significant  omissions  of  the  qualifying  word  ' '  executive, ' '  and 
of  all  reference  to  the  dependence  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  TREASURY— I      95 

ury  upon  the  President.  It  seems  evident  that  the  object  of 
this  was  to  make  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  more  dependent 
on  Congress ;  but  the  action  of  President  Jackson  in  the  removal 
of  the  deposits  in  1833  established  the  President's  authority 
over  this  officer  as  fully  as  over  any  other. 

Under  Hamilton,  the  first  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  a  sys- 
tem of  customs  taxation  with  a  corps  of  national  customs  offi- 
cials was  established  in  1789.  In  1792  internal  taxes  were  laid . 
by  the  national  government ;  and  for  their  administration  a 
staff  of  internal  revenue  collectors  under  the  general  control  of 
a  commissioner  of  the  revenue  was  established.  This  internal 
revenue  service  disappeared  with  the  abolition  of  internal  taxes 
in  1802 ;  it  was  reestablished  in  1813,  again  abolished  in  1817. 
and  once  more  reestablished  in  1862. 

Originally  the  Post-Office  constituted  a  bureau  in  the  Treas- 
ury department,  and  it  remained  in  this  relation  until  estab- 
lished as  a  separate  department  in  1829.  In  1812  a  general 
land  office  was  created  in  the  Treasury  department,  where  it 
continued  until  transferred  to  the  new  department  of  the 
Interior  in  1849.  In  1846  the  independent  Treasury  was  defin- 
itively organized.  In  1862  the  office  of  the  comptroller  of  the 
currency  was  established  in  the  department  of  the  Treasury,  in 
connection  with  the  new  system  of  national  banks  then  author- 
ized. Besides  changes  and  reorganizations  within  the  various 
bureaus  and  offices  mentioned,  other  bureaus  and  subdivisions 
were  created  in  the  Treasury  department  from  time  to  time, 
many  of  which  had  no  special  relation  to  finance  administra- 
tion. The  Treasury  department  seemed  to  be  a  sort  of  dump- 
ing ground  for  any  bureau  which  did  not  clearly  belong  to  one 
of  the  existing  departments.  Many  of  these  non-financial 
bureaus  dealt  with  commercial  interests,  and  when  in  1903  a 
department  of  Commerce  and  Labor  was  established,  most  of 
them  were  transferred  to  that  department. 

Even  after  these  recent  transfers  the  scope  of  the  Treasury 
department  is  still  wide  and  varied,  and  its  internal  organiza- 
tion more  complex  than  that  of  any  other  department.  The 


96  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

general  scope  of  its  functions  may  be  indicated  by  the  following" 
outline  of  the  order  in  which  the  different  branches  will  be  dis- 
cussed. 

1.  The  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  including  the 

three  assistant  secretaries  and  their  immediate  subordi- 
nates ; 

2.  Revenue  administration,  including  the  customs  service 

and  the  internal  revenue  service ; 

3.  The  treasury,  in  the  stricter  sense  of  the  word ; 

4.  Auditing  and  accounting  bureaus ; 

5.  Currency  and  banking  bureaus ;  and 

6.  Miscellaneous  bureaus,  including  the  life  saving  service, 

the  public  health  and  marine  hospital  service,  the  super- 
vising architect  and  the  bureau  of  engraving  and 
printing. 

V  While  all  of  these  branches  of  the  national  administration 
are  organized  within  the  department  of  the  Treasury,  there  is  a 
wide  variety  in  the  degree  of  active  supervision  exercised  over 
different  services  by  the  chief  officers  of  the  department.  The 
various  services  may  be  roughly  grouped  into  three  classes, 
from  this  point  of  view.  In  one  group  may  be  placed  those 
special  services  whose  chief  officers  are  almost  independent  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  This  includes  the  Comptroller 
of  the  Treasury,  the  Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue,  the 
treasurer  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Comptroller  of  the 
Currency.  In  a  second  group  may  be  placed  the  miscellaneous 
non-financial  bureaus,  the  heads  of  which,  while  acting  in  a 
large  measure  independently,  are  still  under  the  general  super- 
vision of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  the  three  assistant 
secretaries.  In  the  third  group  are  the  services  most  closely 
controlled  by  the  highest  officials  of  the  Treasury  department, 
the  special  official  assigned  to  each  of  these  services  being 
merely  a  chief  of  division  in  the  secretary's  office.  This  in- 
cludes the  customs  and  revenue  cuttej^eervices  and  the  admin- 
istration of  loans  and  currency  laws.  — 

The  most  important  officials  under  the  immediate  direction 


THE  DEPABTMENT  OF  THE  TKEASUEY— I      97 

of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  are  the  three  assistant  secre- 
taries, to  each  of  whom  is  assigned  the  general  direction  of 
certain  divisions  in  the  secretary's  office  and  the  supervision 
over  some  of  the  partially  independent  bureaus.  The  division 
of  labor  between  the  different  assistant  secretaries  is  not  per- 
manently fixed  by  statute,  and  is  changed  from  time  to  time 
according  to  the  personal  qualities  of  those  who  fill  these  posi- 
tions. There  is  no  distinction  in  rank  between  the  three  assist- 
ant secretaries,  and  all  receive  the  same  salary,  of  $4,500  a  year. 
One  of  them  may,  however,  be  authorized  to  sign  warrants  for 
the  receipt  and  disbursement  of  moneys  in  place  of  the  secre- 
tary, and  empowered  to  act— in  the  absence  of  the  secretary— 
as  the  head  of  the  department ;  and  he  might  be  designated  in  a 
special  sense  as  the  deputy  secretary. 

A  chief  clerk  has  general  charge  over  the  office  staff,  which  is 
organized  into  ten  divisions,  dealing  with  appointments,  book- 
keeping and  warrants,  public  moneys,  customs,  the  revenue 
cutter  service,  stationery,  loans  and  currency,  mails  and  files, 
special  agents,  and  miscellaneous  matters. 

CUSTOMS  ADMINISTRATION 

From  the  establishment  of  the  government  under  the  consti- 
tution of  1787  the  main  source  of  revenue  has  usually  been  the 
customs  duties  on  imported  goods.  This  was  the  principal 
source  of  income,  and,  except  during  the  War  of  1812,  almost 
the  only  source  until  1863,  when  heavy  internal  revenue  taxes 
were  laid  on  account  of  the  war  expenditures.  From  1864  to 
1868  the  internal  revenue  was  larger  than  the  customs,  and 
since  then  has  constituted  a  very  important  part  of  the  govern- 
ment income.  After  1868,  however,  the  customs  continued  to 
exceed  the  internal  revenue,  except  in  1894,  and  from  1898  to 
1902. 

The  revenue  received  from  customs  has  shown  a  great  in- 
crease with  the  development  of  the  country  and  of  government 
expenditures.  Beginning  at  about  $4,000,000  in  1791,  there 
was  a  fairly  steady  increase,  with  slight  additions  to  the  tariff 
7 


98  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

rates,  until  1808,  when  the  customs  revenue  was  $16,363,000. 
The  restrictive  measures  on  trade  and  the  war  with  Great 
Britain  cut  down  the  amount  from  1808  to  1815.  After  the 
war,  the  sudden  increase  of  imports  increased  the  revenue  to 
$36,000,000  in  1816 ;  a  new  tariff  and  a  depression  in  trade 
reduced  it  to  $17,000,000  in  1819.  Then  followed  a  long  period 
of  frequent  changes  in  the  tariff  laws  and  minor  fluctuations  in 
customs  revenue,  ending  in  1847  with  receipts  of  $23,000,000. 
Under  the  Walker  tariff  act  of  1846,  importations  increased 
and  customs  receipts  rose  as  high  as  $64,000,000  in  1856  and 
1857,  falling  considerably  below  this  amount  after  the  panic  of 
the  latter  year. 

The  Morrill  tariff  act  of  1861  increased  duties,  and  further 
large  increases  rapidly  followed  on  account  of  the  Civil  War. 
The  revenue  from  customs  rose  materially,  at  once,  and  when 
trade  revived  after  the  war  reached  a  maximum  of  $179,000,000 
in  1866.  Since  then  has  been  another  period  of  minor  changes 
in  tariffs  and  fluctuating  trade  conditions,  causing  the  irregular 
rise  and  fall  of  customs  revenue.  The  minimum  of  $130,000,- 
000  was  reached  in  1878,  and  almost  equalled  in  1894;  the 
highest  figures  have  been  $229,000,000  in  1890  and  $284,000,000 
in  1903. 

While  the  tariff  schedules  impose  a  complicated  mass  of 
detailed  duties  on  all  sorts  of  commodities,  the  bulk  of  the  rev- 
enue to  the  government  is  derived  from  the  duties  on  a  very 
small  number  of  these.  Under  the  present  law,  nearly  a  fourth 
of  the  total  customs  revenue  is  derived  from  the  duties  on 
sugar,  which  amounted  in  the  aggregate  in  the  year  ending 
June  30, 1903,  to  $63,000,000.  In  the  same  year  the  duties  on 
-wool  and  woolens  amounted  to  $28,000,000 ;  on  cotton  goods,  to 
$11,000,000 ;  on  silks,  to  $17,000,000 ;  on  linens,  to  $14,000,000 ; 
and  on  tobacco  to  $22,000,000.  Duties  on  these  articles  were 
more  than  50  per  cent,  of  the  total  customs  revenue.  Before 
1890  the  duties  on  iron  and  steel  were  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant sources  of  revenue,  often  exceeding  $20,000,000  a  year, 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TREASURY— I      99 

but  with  the  vast  development  of  domestic  production  the 
imports  in  this  line  have  fallen  off  very  markedly. 

To  collect  this  vast  revenue  necessitates  a  complex  machinery 
of  officials,  which  has  been  developed  by  means  of  a  series  of 
customs  administration  acts,  passed  from  time  to  time.  The 
first  act,  passed  in  1789,  provided  a  customs  service  modelled 
after  that  organized  in  New  York  state  under  a  law  of  1784, 
and  the  main  principles  of  this  organization  are  still  in  effect. 
It  divided  the  country  into  collection  districts,  and  provided 
for  officers  known  as  collectors,  deputy  collectors,  naval  officers, 
and  surveyors,  and  also  for  subordinate  employees  under  the 
titles  of  weighers,  measurers,  gaugers,  and  inspectors.  A  law 
of  1799  rearranged  the  collection  districts,  and  further  changes 
in  such  districts  have  been  made  from  time  to  time  by  statute. 
In  1846  the  bonded  warehouse  system  was  established.  In 
1851  a  board  of  appraisers  was  established,  which  received 
additional  powers  and  larger  importance  in  1890.  In  1870  the 
fee  system  for  paying  customs  officials  was  abolished;  and  in 
the  same  year  a  corps  of  special  agents  of  the  Treasury  depart- 
ment was  established,  to  enable  the  department  to  maintain 
effective  supervision  over  the  local  offices.  In  addition  to  the 
congressional  statutes  regulating  the  machinery  of  customs 
collection,  there  are  many  administrative  regulations  govern- 
ing the  duties  of  the  officials,  issued  by  the  President  and  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

In  the  various  collection  districts  into  which  the  country  is 
divided  there  are  now  128  ports  of  entry,  on  the  borders  of  the 
country,  mostly  along  the  seaboard,  at  one  of  which-any  im- 
ported goods  must  be  entered.  There  are  also  31  delivery 
ports  (which  are  usually  large  inland  cities),  to  which  imports 
may  be  shipped  directly  from  abroad,  if  they  have  been  entered 
or  reported  at  a  port  of  entry.  At  a  port  of  entry  the  full 
complement  of  officials  consists  of  a  collector,  naval  officer  and 
surveyor ;  but  only  a  few  of  the  largest  ports  have  separate  per- 
sons for  each  office,  and  at  less  important  places  one  man 
performs  the  duties  of  two  or  more  offices.  At  a  port  of  deliv- 


100  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTKATION 

ery  there  is  no  collector,  but  the  surveyor  is  in  charge  of  the 
employees  and  government  storehouses.  These  officers  are  ap- 
pointed for  important  ports  by  the  President  and  Senate ;  for 
minor  places  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury. 

The  collector  is  the  principal  local  customs  officer  at  each 
port.  Subject  now  to  civil  service  examinations,  he  selects 
gangers,  measurers,  inspectors,  appraisers  and  clerks,  and  has 
general  direction  of  the  local  staff.  In  the  early  days  of  the 
national  government,  the  local  collectors  were  left  a  large  dis- 
cretion in  the  interpretation  of  statutes,  but  as  the  service  has 
developed,  uniform  rules  and  regulations  have  been  established 
by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  which  reduce  the  local  officers 
to  distinctly  subordinate  positions.  The  naval  officer  has  to 
countersign  official  documents  as  a  check  on  the  collector.  The 
surveyor  has  immediate  charge  of  the  outdoor  force,— the  gang- 
ers and  inspectors,  who  examine  goods  at  the  docks  and  store- 
houses. 

By  far  the  most  important  port  is  New  York,  where  60  per 
cent,  of  the  total  imports  to  the  United  States  are  received,  64 
per  cent,  of  the  customs  revenue  is  collected,  and  35  per  cent, 
of  the  customs  officials  and  employees  are  located.  The  other 
principal  ports  are,  in  the  order  named,  Philadelphia,  Boston, 
San  Francisco,  Baltimore,  New  Orleans,  Chicago,  and  Detroit. 
There  are,  altogether,  about  4,800  persons  employed  in  the  local 
customs  offices.  In  addition,  there  are  about  200  persons  in 
the  revenue  cutter  service,  which  employs  about  eighty  vessels 
in  the  enforcement  of  the  customs  laws.  There  is  also  a  small 
corps  of  special  agents,  under  the  immediate  control  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  engaged  as  detectives  and  inspectors 
of  the  local  officials.  The  board  of  general  appraisers  acts  as 
a  customs  court  on  appeals  from  the  assessments  of  local 
officers. 

In  spite  of  the  importance  of  the  customs  service  there  is  no 
special  bureau  in  the  department  of  the  Treasury  dealing  with 
it.  There  is  only  a  division  of  customs  and  a  division  of  the 
revenue  cutter  service  in  the  immediate  office  of  the  Secretary 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  TEEASUEY— I 

of  the  Treasury,  while  one  of  the  assistant  secretaries  has  spe- 
cial supervision  of  customs  matters.  Before  1894  there  was  a 
commissioner  of  customs,  but  his  duties  corresponded  to  those 
of  the  auditors,  and  the  office  was  abolished  in  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  auditing  service. 

(  The  process  of  customs  administration  may  be  described  in 
four  main  stages:  (1)  the  entry  of  importing  vessels  and  im- 
ported merchandise;  (2)  the  appraisal  of  the  customs  duties; 
(3)  appeals  from  the  duties  assessed;  and  (4)  the  collection  of 
the  duties. 

Entry.— All  vessels  must  enter  at  a  port  of  entry,  and  there 
are  severe  penalties  for  attempting  to  unload  without  entering 
at  such  a  port.  It  is  forbidden  by  law  to  import  dutiable  mer- 
chandise in  vessels  of  less  than  thirty  tons  burden. 

Every  vessel  from  a  foreign  port  must  have  a  manifest  of 
her  cargo,  a  document  signed  by  the  master,  stating  the  port  of 
departure,  the  consignees,  the  port  of  delivery,  and  the  items 
of  cargo.  The  revenue  marine  force,  which  patrols  the  coast, 
boards  vessels  coming  from  foreign  ports  and  requires  such 
vessels  to  produce  their  manifest  to  be  endorsed  by  the  officer 
of  the  revenue  marine  vessel.  A  copy  of  the  manifest  must  be 
sent  to  the  collector  on  arrival;  and  the  master  of  the  vessel 
must  also  report  on  oath  on  all  particulars  required  in  the 
manifest.  It  is  only  after  this  procedure  that  permission  to 
unload  is  allowed.  Generally  unloading  has  to  be  performed 
between  sunrise  and  sunset,  but  in  large  ports  special  licenses 
for  night  unloading  are  granted.  The  unloading  takes  place 
under  the  supervision  of  a  government  officer. 

Consignees  must  enter  the  merchandise  at  the  customs  house, 
by  presenting  an  invoice  to  the  collector,  signed  by  the  person 
shipping  or  owning  the  goods,  and  for  goods  subject  to  ad 
valorem  duties  the  invoice  must  state  the  value.  The  invoice 
must  be  verified  by  the  declaration  of  persons  signing  it,  and 
the  collector  may  require  documents  to  assist  in  determining 
values.  The  invoices  must  also  be  certified  by  the  consul  at  the 
port  nearest  the  point  of  shipment,  but  this  work  is  perfunc- 


102  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

tory,  as  consuls  are  not  competent  to  judge  of  values.  Where 
goods  are  imported  by  the  manufacturer,  the  attempt  is  made 
to  get  at  the  cost  of  production  from  his  statement. 

Appraisal.— Duties  may  be  either  specific  or  ad  valorem,  and 
sometimes  both  kinds  are  imposed  on  the  same  class  of  goods. 
From  the  administrative  point  of  view  specific  duties  are  the 
better,  as  they  simplify  the  process  of  assessing  the  amount  of 
the  duty.  But  there  are  still  many  ad  valorem  duties  which 
necessitate  an  appraisal  of  the  value  of  goods. 

The  government  does  not  rely  on  the  declaration  of  importers 
to  determine  values.  In  large  ports  there  are  appraisers  ap- 
pointed; and  in  small  ports  appraisals  are  made  by  the  col- 
lector. Certain  packages  are  marked  on  each  invoice,  and 
these  are  sent  to  the  appraisers,  who  are  supposed  to  know  the 
value  of  goods.  But  the  Secretaries  of  the  Treasury  complain 
that  the  appraisers  are  often  not  competent,  and  the  tendency 
is  to  accept  the  value  of  the  invoice.  The  report  of  the  apprais- 
ers to  the  collector  states  the  character  of  the  articles  (classifi- 
cation) and  the  value ;  if  this  appraisal  appears  to  the  collector 
too  low,  he  can  order  a  reappraisal  by  one  of  the  general  ap- 
praisers, which  is  also  called  an  original  appraisal. 

There  has  always  been  much  complaint  by  the  government 
of  undervaluation,  and  by  importers  against  the  decisions  of 
the  appraisers.  In  order  to  induce  importers  to  announce  full 
value  on  their  goods,  it  is  provided  that  if  the  appraised  value 
is  40  per  cent,  over  the  entry  value,  the  latter  is  considered 
presumptively  fraudulent,  and  either  the  goods  are  forfeited 
or  penalties  are  imposed.  These  provisions  have  been  upheld 
by  the  Supreme  Court.1 

Appeal.— Administrative  appeals  are,  however,  provided 
against  unjust  original  appraisals,  and  distinct  appeals  are 
now  provided  for  overvaluation  and  for  wrong  classification. 
As  to  valuation,  there  has  always  been  an  appeal  from  the 
original  appraisal.  At  first  there  was  an  attempt  at  a  sort  of 
jury,  by  calling  in  members  of  the  trade  with  a  representative 

1 148  U.  S.  214. 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  TEEASUEY— I  1Q3 

of  the  importer.  But  this  was  not  satisfactory  either  to  the 
government  or  to  the  importer,  and  another  body  was  created, 
dating  from  1851,  but  fully  developed  in  the  Customs  Admin- 
istration Act  of  1890.  Under  this  latter  act  the  President  ap- 
points nine  general  appraisers,  not  more  than  five  of  one  party. 
Three  of  these  form  a  court  of  general  appraisers  in  New 
York ;  the  others,  in  two  boards,  travel  to  the  different  ports  in 
the  country.  The  appeal  from  the  original  appraisal  goes  to 
this  body,  which  acts  in  some  respects  as  a  court,  although  it 
does  not  follow  all  the  formalities  of  judicial  procedure.1 

The  determination  of  this  board  on  questions  of  valuation  is 
final,  and  the  only  thing  authorizing  a  further  rehearing  would 
be  fraud.2 

Under  the  original  law  there  was  no  administrative  appeal 
provided  for  mistakes  of  classification,  the  theory  being  that  as 
a  question  of  law  it  should  be  decided  by  the  courts.  The 
national  judiciary  worked  out  a  remedy  under  the  rules  of  pri- 
vate law.  If  the  importer  paid  the  duties  under  protest,  he 
could  then  bring  suit  against  the  collector  for  unjust  enrich- 
ment.3 The  collectors  then  developed  the  custom  of  keeping 
back  moneys  due  the  government  so  as  to  pay  amounts  awarded 
against  them  on  such  suits,  and  this  custom  seriously  disar- 
ranged the  government  accounts.  Accordingly  in  1839  Con- 
gress provided  that  the  collectors  should  pay  in  all  receipts  to 
the  Treasury ;  but  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  could  repay 
the  collector  if  it  was  shown  to  him  that  there  was  aa  improper 
classifiaction,  that  is,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was  made 
an  appellate  authority  on  questions  of  classification.  This  act 
did  not  formally  abolish  the  judicial  remedy;  but  the  courts 
now  held,  that  as  the  collectors  no  longer  held  the  money,  suits 
for  unjust  enrichment  were  not  valid.4  This  situation  was  not 
satisfactory  to  Congress ;  so  in  1845  it  was  provided  that  judi- 

1 146  U.  S.  30. 
2 1  Wallace,  375. 
•  10  Peters,  137. 
«  3  Howard,  236. 


104  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTBATION 

cial  suits  should  be  restored,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
should  pay  the  amounts  awarded;  and  at  the  same  time  the 
appellate  jurisdiction  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  was 
abolished.  In  1864  the  appellate  jurisdiction  was  restored, 
and  both  remedies  existed. 

Notwithstanding  the  administrative  remedy  the  courts  be- 
came crowded  with  customs  cases  (five  thousand  a  year),  and 
there  was  much  complaint  of  the  system.  But  no  change  was 
made  until  1890,  when  the  Customs  Administration  Act  pro- 
vided for  an  appeal  on  classification  from  the  decision  of  a 
collector  to  the  Board  of  General  Appraisers;  but  on  these 
questions  of  classification  their  decision  is  not  final  (as  they 
are  on  questions  of  valuation).  The  case  may  be  then  carried 
to  a  United  States  circuit  court,  by  certiorari,  and  the  decisions 
of  the  circuit  court  are  final,  unless  the  circuit  judge  considers 
the  question  of  such  importance  as  to  allow  an  appeal  to  the 
Circuit  Court  of  Appeals,  or  in  very  important  cases  to  the 
Supreme  Court.  This  system  seems  likely  to  continue,  and  is 
developing  a  special  class  of  attorneys  who  appear  in  such 
cases. 

Collection  of  Duties.— 'Before  1846  duties  were  either  paid  or 
secured  to  be  paid  before  the  goods  were  landed ;  but  in  that 
year  the  bonded  warehouse  system  was  begun.  By  this  plan 
an  importer  may  store  his  goods  in  a  government  warehouse,  by 
giving  a  bond  for  double  the  amount  due  to  pay  the  duties 
when  the  goods  are  withdrawn  from  the  warehouse.  When 
private  warehouses  are  used  as  bonded  warehouses  they  must 
be  approved  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  are  under 
the  joint  custody  of  United  States  officers  and  the  owner.1 
Goods  warehoused  are  at  the  risk  of  the  owner. 

Warehoused  goods  may  be  withdrawn  at  any  time  within  a 
year  on  payment  of  duties ;  and  on  payment  of  ten  per  cent, 
extra  the  time  may  be  extended  to  three  years.  If  warehoused 
goods  are  reexported  duties  are  not  required ;  if  goods  on  which 
duties  have  been  paid  are  exported  the  duties  are  paid  back 
1 3  Blatchf ord,  413. 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  TKEASURY— I  1Q5 

(drawback)  except  one  per  cent.  Similarly,  on  goods  subject 
to  internal  revenue  duties,  a  drawback  is  paid  by  the  govern- 
ment when  they  are  exported. 

Goods  warehoused  may  be  sent  under  bond  to  other  ports  in 
this  country  or  other  collection  districts  in  sealed  railroad  cars. 

In  all  cases  of  bonded  or  warehoused  goods  the  preliminary 
liquidation  of  duties  for  fixing  the  amount  of  the  bond  is  not 
final;  but  the  final  liquidation  is  made  when  the  goods  are 
withdrawn;  and  appeals  may  be  taken  from  these  final  liqui- 
dations.1 

Ordinarily  goods  do  not  get  out  of  the  government's  hands 
until  the  duties  are  paid ;  but  if  they  do  by  fraud  or  otherwise, 
the  government  has  the  right  to  sue  for  the  duties,  and  the  act 
of  importing  makes  the  importer  liable  to  the  duty.2 

I/ 

INTERNAL  REVENUE  SERVICE 

Before  1862  internal  revenue  duties  were  never  a  very  impor- 
tant part  of  the  revenue  of  the  United  States  government,  and 
indeed  only  during  two  short  periods  were  there  any  internal 
revenue  taxes  and  an  internal  revenue  administration.  The 
first  tax  for  the  national  government  in  addition  to  the  customs 
duties  was  an  excise  tax  of  25  cents  per  gallon  on  whiskey, 
established  in  1791.  In  spite  of  the  "Whiskey  Rebellion"  in 
Pennsylvania,  the  tax  was  retained,  and  was  extended  to  other 
objects,  including  carriages,  snuff,  refined  sugars,  stamps  on 
bills  of  lading,  and  bills  of  exchange.  The  revenue  reached 
$1,000,000  in  1801.  These  duties  were  abolished  during  Jef- 
ferson's first  term,  although  small  amounts  of  back  taxes  con- 
tinued to  be  received.  In  the  War  of  1812  recourse  was  again 
had  to  internal  revenue  taxes,  and  from  1814  to  1818  the 
receipts  were  from  $1,662,984  to  $5,124,708  a  year.  In  the 
latter  year  the  taxes  were  again  repealed ;  but,  as  before,  small 
amounts  continued  to  be  received,  even  as  late  as  1848.  From 
then  until  the  Civil  War  there  are  no  internal  revenue  receipts. 

1 18  Wallace,  322. 

2  2  Cranch,  C.  C.  508 ;  13  Peters,  486. 


V 


106  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

Under  the  pressure  of  the  government  need  for  revenue  a  new 
and  elaborate  system  of  internal  taxes  was  put  in  force  by  the 
act  of  July  1, 1862.  The  income  for  the  first  year  was  $37,000,- 
000;  and  this  steadily  increased  (under  improved  administra- 
tion and  additional  taxes)  to  $309,000,000  in  1866,  far  exceed- 
ing the  customs  revenue.  After  the  war  large  reductions  were 
made  in  the  taxes,  and  many  were  entirely  abolished.  The 
revenue  fell  to  a  minimum  of  $102,000,000  in  1874.  From  then 
until  1897,  it  fluctuated  between  $110,000,000  and  $161,000,000 
a  year,  ranking  next  to  the  customs  in  importance.  New  taxes 
imposed  in  1898  caused  the  receipts  from  internal  revenue  to 
swell  once  more,  reaching  a  maximum  of  $307,000,000  in  1901, 
and  declining  somewhat  since  that  date  with  the  repeal  of  the 

war  taxes.     From  1898  to  1902  the  revenue  from  internal  taxes 

• 

exceeded  that  from  customs  duties. 

Half  of  the  internal  revenue  now  comes  from  the  taxes  on  dis- 
tilled spirits,  about  one-fifth  from  taxes  on  fermented  liquors, 
about  a  fifth  from  taxes  on  tobacco,  and  the  remainder  from 
the  tax  on  oleomargarine  and  some  minor  items.1  During  the 
Civil  War,  an  income  tax  was  an  important  internal  tax,  pro- 
ducing nearly  $73,000,000  in  1866.  While  this  tax  was  held  to 
be  constitutional  by  the  Supreme  Court,  another  income  tax 
provided  for  in  1894  has  been  held  to  be  unconstitutional.2 
The  bulk  of  the  internal  taxes  are  collected  in  a  few  states. 
Illinois  pays  the  largest  amount— $50,000,000,  one-fifth  of  the 
total  in  1903;  New  York,  Indiana,  Kentucky,  Pennsylvania 
and  Ohio  each  contribute  from  $18,000,000  to  $30,000,000,  Mis- 

1  Internal  Kevenue  1902-3 

Distilled  spirits $131,953,472 

Fermented  liquors 47,547,856 

Tobacco 43,514,810 

Oleomargarine 736,783 

Miscellaneous 7,057,203 


$230,810,024 
2 157  U.  S.  429;  158  U.  S.  601. 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TREASURY— I  1Q7 

souri  $9,000,000,  and  Wisconsin  $7,000,000.  Three-fourths 
of  the  total  internal  revenue  is  collected  in  these  eight  states. 

The  present  administrative  organization  of  the  internal  rev- 
enue service  dates  from  the  system  established  in  1862.  At  its 
head  is  the  Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue,  appointed  by 
the  President  and  Senate  at  a  salary  of  $6,500  a  year.  Nomi- 
nally a  subordinate  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  this  officer 
is  almost  independent  and  occupies  a  much  more  important 
position  than  the  division  chief  of  customs.  He  has  general 
superintendence  of  the  collection  of  all  internal  revenue  taxes 
and  the  enforcement  of  the  internal  revenue  laws ;  he  regulates 
the  employment  of  special  revenue  agents  and  the  compensation 
and  duties  of  gaugers,  storekeepers  and  other  subordinate 
employees;  he  controls  the  preparation  and  distribution  of 
internal  revenue  stamps,  instructions,  regulations,  forms, 
blanks  and  stationery ;  and  he  hears  and  decides  appeals  from 
the  acts  of  internal  revenue  collectors.  The  business  of  his 
office  is  distributed  among  eleven  divisions,  each  with  its  chief 
and  staff  of  clerks. 

Congress  does  not  establish  internal  revenue  districts  by  stat- 
ute, as  it  does  customs  districts;  but  allows  the  President  to 
establish  and  abolish  districts  and  provide  officers  for  each. 
While  the  Civil  War  taxes  were  in  force,  internal  revenue  dis- 
tricts were  usually  co-extensive  with  the  districts  for  the  elec- 
tion of  members  of  the  House  of  Representatives ;  and  there  was 
a  staff  of  700  collectors  and  3,100  assessors.  The  number  of 
districts  has  been  reduced  from  time  to  time  by  consolidating 
two  or  more  into  one,  until  since  1887  there  have  been  but  63. 
The  collectors  of  internal  revenue  are  appointed  by  the  Presi- 
denfrand  Senate ;  other  officers  and  employees— gaugers,  store- 
keepers and  inspectors— are  appointed  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury.  As  all  of  these  persons  have  access  to  the  distilleries, 
breweries  and  factories  and  can  learn  secret  processes  of  manu- 
facture, and  may  also  be  tempted  to  defraud  the  government, 
they  are  subject  to  very  strict  discipline,  and  may  be  fined, 
imprisoned  and  disqualified  from  holding  office  for  violating 


108  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

the  laws  and  regulations  governing  their  duties.  The  corps  of 
internal  revenue  agents  under  the  immediate  control  of  the 
Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue  act  principally  as  a  force 
of  detectives  to  discover  and  prevent  fraud  on  the  government 
either  by  the  officials  or  by  private  individuals. 

It  is  the  general  purpose  of  the  tax  laws  to  make  the  manu- 
facturers assess  themselves  and  pay  the  tax ;  they  are  therefore 
required  to  conduct  their  business  in  certain  ways  which  will 
make  this  automatic  system  of  assessment  and  collection  pos- 
sible. 

Distilled  Spirits.— The  statute  defines  who  is  a  distiller  in 
great  detail.  Before  a  distiller  can  enter  on  his  business  he 
must  comply  with  the  following  requirements:  (1)  He  must 
file  a  declaration  of  intention  with  the  collector,  which  must 
show  where  the  still  is  set,  its  capacity,  its  owner,  and  the  resi- 
dence of  the  owner,— notice  of  any  change  must  be  given  within 
twenty-four  hours.  (2)  He  must  file  a  bond  with  two  sureties 
in  double  the  amount  of  the  tax  on  the  production  of  the  still 
for  fifteen  days.  In  this  bond  the  individual  binds  himself  to 
pay  the  duties,  and  obey  all  other  requirements  of  the  law,  and 
not  to  mortgage  the  distillery.  (3)  He  must  satisfy  the  col- 
lector before  approval  of  the  bond  that  he  is  the  owner  of  the 
distillery  in  fee  simple  and  that  the  property  is  unencumbered. 
(4)  He  must  make  an  accurate  plan  of  the  distillery  and  ma- 
chines. The  details  of  this  requirement  are  most  minute,  and 
its  accuracy  must  be  verified  by  the  collector ;  and  no  alteration 
may  be  made  without  the  consent  of  the  collector,  and  altered 
plans  must  then  be  made.  These  plans  must  be  in  triplicate- 
one  is  filed  in  the  distillery,  one  with  the  collector,  and  one  with 
the  Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue.  (5)  The  distillery 
must  be  surveyed  by  the  collector  and  an  assistant  appointed 
by  the  Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue,  so  as  to  estimate  the 
capacity  for  twenty-four  hours ;  and  of  this  survey  triplicate 
copies  must  be  made.  Any  distiller  who  does  not  comply  with 
all  these  requirements  is  an  illicit  distiller. 

Every  distiller  is  supposed  to  have  commenced  business  at  12 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  TKEASUEY— I     1Q9 

o'clock  noon  on  the  third  day  after  his  bond  has  been  approved, 
and  to  be  in  continuous  operation  until  notice  is  given  to  the 
contrary. 

A  record  must  be  kept  of  all  materials  used  in  the  business, 
their  cost,  and  means  of  delivery ;  also  a  list  of  the  employees. 
An  account  must  also  be  kept  of  the  process  of  distilling,  show- 
ing the  time  of  day  when  yeast  is  inserted,  the  amount  of  grain 
used,  the  amount  of  spirits  produced,  and  the  amount  stored. 
These  books  must  be  preserved  for  two  years  and  are  subject  to 
inspection.  A  duplicate  sworn  return  must  be  made  from 
these  books  monthly  and  sent  to  the  collector. 

A  storekeeper  is  asisgned  by  the  government  to  each  distill- 
ery, to  record  the  operations  in  the  distillery,— measuring  the 
grain  as  it  goes  into  the  mash.  In  the  cistern  room  the  govern- 
ment gauger  is  present  as  the  liquor  is  run  into  barrels,  and 
these  barrels  are  numbered  and  stamped  with  serial  numbers, 
the  contents,  the  name  of  the  gauger  and  the  date.  These 
marked  barrels  are  placed  in  the  distillery  warehouse,  where 
they  may  remain  without  bond  one  month ;  and  in  bond  for  a 
period  determined  by  the  Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue. 
When  any  liquor  is  to  be  sold,  the  distiller  receives  from  the 
collector  tax-payer's  stamps,  which  are  also  numbered.  The 
absence  of  any  of  these  numbers,  marks  and  stamps  will  be 
noticed  by  internal  revenue  agents  in  their  inspections.  The 
distiller  must  keep  a  record  of  his  sales.  He  must  also  have  a 
sign  of  a  certain  size  with  words  ' '  Registered  Distiller. ' ' 

If  the  tax  is  not  paid  in  full  up  to  the  capacity  of  the  dis- 
tillery, deficiency  assessments  are  made.  If  the  tax  is  paid  on 
less  than  80  per  cent,  of  the  capacity,  a  deficiency  assessment  is 
made  even  if  the  total  production  has  been  reported.  If  the 
amount  produced  does  not  correspond  with  the  amount  of  grain 
used,  or  if  the  amount  actually  produced  is  not  represented  in 
the  tax,  deficiency  assessments  are  levied.1 

These  rules  also  apply  to  rectifiers. 

Fermented  Liquors.— Similar  rules  apply  to  brewers,  but 
1 16  Wallace,  240  j  17  Wallace,  182;  21  Wallace,  655. 


HO  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

there  is  no  storekeeper,  and  there  is  thus  more  reliance  placed 
on  the  brewer's  books  and  reports.  Stamps  are  put  on  the 
bung-hole,  so  that  they  will  be  broken  when  the  barrels  are 
opened. 

Tobacco.— The  general  principles  are  the  same  as  for  the  tax 
on  liquors ;  but,  as  with  brewers,  the  records  are  accepted  more 
than  for  distillers.  The  manufacturer  must  make  a  declara- 
tion, use  books,  make  returns,  and  use  packages  of  certain  sizes 
so  stamped  that  the  stamps  will  be  destroyed  when  used.  Also 
all  dealers  in  leaf  tobacco  are  required  to  keep  records  of  sales 
and  report  to  the  collector.  Here,  too,  the  commissioner  is 
authorized  to  make  deficiency  assessments,  if  the  tax  paid  does 
not  come  up  to  the  reports  and  records. 

Similar  provisions  apply  in  the  assessment  of  the  oleomar- 
garine tax. 

Co llection.— Ordinarily  the  tax  will  not  only  assess  but  col- 
lect itself.  The  manufacturer  must  purchase  stamps,  which 
for  beer  and  cigars  are  destroyed  when  the  packages  are  opened. 
To  provide  for  obedience  to  the  law  there  is  a  series  of  penalties 
and  forfeitures  not  only  of  goods,  but  also  of  articles  of  manu- 
facture. Actions  for  penalties  and  forfeitures  are  brought  in 
circuit  courts.  The  Supreme  Court,  however,  holds  that  these 
penalties  do  not  make  the  law  criminal  so  as  to  be  construed 
strictly;  but  that  it  is  to  be  construed  liberally,  so  as  most 
effectually  to  enforce  the  revenue  laws.1  The  penal  provisions 
are,  however,  construed  strictly ;  but  a  proceeding  to  forfeit  is 
not  a  criminal  proceeding.2  Forfeitures  will  not  be  avoided  by 
the  payment  of  the  tax,  or  even  by  a  bona  fide  sale.3 

These  penalties  are  so  severe  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury is  given  power  to  remit  them  where  he  considers  their 
application  too  hard. 

The  United  States  has  also  a  supplemental  right  to  bring 

X97  U.  S.  237;  10  Wallace,  395;  3  Howard,  197,  210. 

2 18  Wallace,  516. 

3 14  Wallace,  44 ;  103  U.  S.  679. 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TREASURY— I      HI 

suit  to  collect  the  tax.1  The  United  States  also  has  a  lien  on 
the  property  of  the  tax-payer,  and  the  lien  dates  not  from  time 
of  demand,  but  from  the  time  when  the  tax  became  due.2 

Appeals.— Unlike  the  general  property  tax  or  ad  valorem 
customs  duties,  the  value  of  the  thing  taxed  does  not  come  into 
question ;  the  rate  is  fixed  in  amount,  and  there  is  not  the  room 
for  arbitrary  action  by  the  government  officer,  and  so  less  need 
for  a  system  of  appeals.  But  in  the  deficiency  assessments 
there  is  a  valuation,  and  in  practice  there  has  sprung  up  an 
administrative  remedy.  A  tax-payer  considering  himself  ag- 
grieved may  petition  the  Commissioner  of  Internal  Kevenue 
for  a  rehearing ;  and  while  in  theory  this  is  asking  an  officer  to 
review  his  own  action,  in  practice  it  is  an  appeal  from  the  col- 
lector to  the  commissioner.  If  the  commissioner  does  not 
grant  the  petition,  the  only  thing  is  for  the  tax-payer,  when 
the  government  proceeds  to  collect  by  distress  and  sale,  to  pay 
under  protest  and  bring  suit  against  the  collector.  There  is  no 
further  appeal  to  an  administrative  officer ;  and  courts  can  be 
appealed  to  only  after  the  tax  has  been  paid  in  accordance  with 
the  decision  of  the  commissioner.  In  such  a  case  the  court  can 
go  into  the  whole  question,  and  its  decision  is  not  prejudiced 
by  any  act  of  the  administration.3 

Another  case  is  where  there  is  doubt  as  to  the  legal  liability 
of  a  person  to  pay  the  tax  or  suffer  a  penalty.  As  to  this  ques- 
tion of  law  the  individual  has  also  the  right  of  administrative 
appeal  to  the  Commissioner  of  Internal  Revenue  for  a  refund 
of  the  tax  paid  ;4  and  if  the  commissioner  decides  in  his  favor 
his  claim  will  be  accepted  in  the  Court  of  Claims  ;5  but  if,  and 
only  if,  the  commissioner  decides  against  the  appellant  there  is 
a  judicial  remedy.6  The  tax-payer  may  bring  action  (within 
two  years  after  paying  tax  under  protest)  against  the  collector. 

*19  Wallace,  227;  21  Wallace,  65. 
*4  Dillon,  71;  14  Fed.  Sep.,  263. 
«21  Wallace,  65;  14  Fed.  Eep.,  263. 
4  Eevised  Statutes,  §3220. 
6  96  U.  S.  567. 
•14  Wallace,  613. 


112  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTBATION 

If  the  court  decides  in  favor  of  the  tax-payer,  the  government 
repays  the  collector,  who  is  technically  adjudged  to  have  taken 
advantage  of  his  position  to  enrich  himself.1  In  these  actions 
the  court  may  go  over  the  whole  case  de  novo,  without  regard  to 
the  action  of  the  commissioner,  collector,  or  other  administra- 
tive authority.2 

On  general  principles  there  could  be  an  action  for  trespass 
against  a  collector,  but  if  he  acted  under  proper  orders  no 
remedy  is  granted.3 

The  statute  specifically  provides  that  there  is  no  remedy  by 
injunction  to  restrain  the  collection  of  the  tax. 

Next  to  the  customs  and  internal  revenue  the  largest  source 
of  government  income  is  the  postal  service,  where  the  expendi- 
tures exceed  the  revenues.  This  branch  of  administration  will 
be  considered  in  the  chapter  on  the  Post-Office  department. 
The  income  from  the  sale  of  public  lands,  now  a  comparatively 
small  item,  will  be  noted  in  connection  with  the  land  office  in 
the  chapter  on  the  department  of  the  Interior.  Other  sources 
of  revenue  are  of  very  minor  significance,  involving  no  impor- 
tant administrative  arrangements. 

1 4  Dillon,  66. 
a  7  Wallace,  122. 
•14  Fed  Sep.,  263. 


CHAPTER   VIII 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TREASURY— II  \ 

THE  INDEPENDENT  TREASURY 

References. — D.  KINLEY:  The  Independent  Treasury. — J.  B.  PHILLIPS: 
Methods  of  Keeping  the  Public  Money  of  the  United  States  (Pub. 
Mich.  Pol.  Sci.  Assn.,  Vol.  IV).— H.  C.  ADAMS:  The  Science  of 
Finance,  214-215. — House  Beports,  52d  Congress,  1st  session,  Vol.  10, 
No.  2143.— -Forum,  29:1.— Review  of  Reviews,  21:202. 

ACCOUNTING  AND  AUDITING 

A.  S.  BOLLES:  The  Financial  History  of  the  United  States,  II,  567-575; 
III,  523-535.— Senate  Reports,  1888,  No.  507,  Vol.  2,  1-474.— Decisions 
of  the  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury. — Political  Science  Quarterly,  5:214. — 
American  Law  Review,  25:727. — Magazine  of  American  History,  23:241; 
25:71. 

CURRENCY  ADMINISTRATION 

F.  A.  CLEVELAND  :  Funds  and  Their  Uses,  ch.  9. — H.  WHITE  :  Money  and 
Banking. — C.  F.  DUNBAR:  Chapters  in  Banking,  ch.  9. — J.  J.  KNOX: 
History  of  Banking,  128-131. — D.  K.  WATSON:  History  of  American 
Coinage. — F.  W.  TAUSSIG:  The  Silver  Situation. — Political  Science  Quar- 
terly,' 15 :482.— Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  14:394. — North  Amer- 
ican Review,  141:197;  167:710;  172:261. 

LIFE-SAVING  SERVICE 

S.  I.  KIMBALL:  Organization  and  Methods  of  the  United  States  Life- 
Saving  Service. — Harper's  Monthly,  64:357. — New  England  Magazine, 
n.  s.,  2:134. — Popular  Science  Monthly,  44:346. — Century,  33:925. — 
Journal  Franklin  Institute,  133:1. 

THE  TREASURY 

BY  the  act  of  1789  establishing  the  department,  the  Treasury 
was  given  a  legal  but  not  a  substantial  existence ;  and  for  the 
first  few  years  state  banks  were  used  as  the  custodian  of  gov- 
ernment funds  and  financial  agents  of  the  government.  Under 
the  act  of  1791  establishing  the  first  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
that  institution  became  the  official  agent  of  the  Treasury,  and 
8  113 


114  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

so  continued  until  its  charter  expired  in  1811,  after  which  the 
government  moneys  were  again  deposited  in  various  state 
banks.  During  the  War  of  1812  the  banks  south  of  New  Eng- 
land suspended  specie  payment,  and  the  government  lost  about 
$1,000,000  out  of  $9,000,000  on  deposit  in  these  banks.  This 
financial  loss  led  to  the  establishment  in  1816  of  the  second 
Bank  of  the  United  States,  which,  like  the  first,  acted  as  the 
fiscal  agent  of  the  government,  receiving  the  revenues  and  hold- 
ing and  distributing  the  funds.  Before  the  end  of  the  twenty- 
year  period  for  which  this  bank  was  chartered  there  arose  the 
political  conflict  with  President  Jackson,  and  the  " removal' '  of 
the  government  deposits  in  1833.  Strictly  speaking,  there  was 
not  a  physical  withdrawal  of  the  funds  at  one  time;  but  no 
further  deposits  were  made,  and  the  balances  to  the  credit  of 
the  government  were  depleted  in  the  ordinary  course  of  busi- 


There  was  at  this  time  no  law  regulating  the  control  of  public 
moneys ;  but  on  the  authority  of  the  President  and  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  deposits  were  again  made  in  various  state  banks ; 
and  in  1836  a  statute  was  passed  authorizing  this  system.  The 
period  of  bank  and  land  speculation  which  followed  and  the 
crisis  of  1837  belong  to  a  history  of  banking ;  but  we  may  note 
that  the  banks  which  failed  at  that  time  carried  $32,000,000  of 
government  deposits,  and  the  payments  made  in  depreciated 
notes  involved  a  net  loss  to  the  government  of  $2,500,000. 
From  this  time  part  of  the  government  funds  were  kept  in  the 
hands  of  officials  (the  officers  of  the  mints  and  revenue  collect- 
ors) ;  but  the  attempts  to  establish  a  government  Treasury 
system  were  stubbornly  opposed  in  Congress.  An  act  estab- 
lishing this  system  was  passed  in  June,  1840,  but  repealed  by 
the  whig  Congress  in  August,  1841.  The  bill  for  a  third 
national  bank  was,  however,  vetoed  by  President  Tyler;  and 
the  unlegalized  system  of  government  officials  acting  as  deposi- 
taries continued.  Many  of  the  officials  deposited  the  funds  in 
selected  banks.  Finally,  in  1846,  the  sub-treasury  act  was 
passed.  Under  the  regime  then  existing  of  state  banks,  so 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TREASURY— II  H5 

slightly  regulated  and  supervised,  the  establishment  of  the 
sub-treasury  was  clearly  necessary  for  the  protection  of  the 
government  funds. 

The  act  of  1846  provided  for  a  physical  treasury  at  Wash- 
ington, under  the  immediate  direction  of  the  treasurer  of  the 
United  States,  and  six  branch  or  sub-treasuries  at  Philadelphia, 
New  Orleans,  New  York,  Boston,  Charleston  and  St.  Louis, 
under  the  direction  of  assistant  treasurers  or  treasurers  of  the 
mints.  Government  officials  were  no  longer  to  deposit  funds 
in  banks;  but  were  to  retain  them  or  transfer  to  one  of  the 
treasuries;  while  as  a  necessary  corollary  of  the  dissociation 
of  the  government  from  the  banks,  all  revenues  were  to  be  paid 
in  specie  or  government  treasury  notes. 

In  spite  of  the  failure  of  Congress  to  provide  for  adequate 
storage  vaults,  and  difficulties  in  transferring  funds  from  one 
depository  to  another,  the  new  system  worked  fairly  well. 
Aided  by  a  bound  in  exports,  specie  payments  and  the  govern- 
ment credit  were  maintained  through  the  Mexican  War,  and 
again  during  the  crisis  of  1857.  But  in  1862,  following  the 
suspension  of  specie  payments  by  the  banks,  the  government 
also  suspended  specie  payments,  and  legal  tender  notes  (green- 
backs) were  issued  for  government  payments.  In  1863,  in 
connection  with  the  establishment  of  the  new  national  banking 
system,  it  was  provided  that  the  national  banks  might  become 
depositories  of  public  moneys  (except  customs  dues,  which 
were  still  paid  in  specie)  and  might  be  employed  as  financial 
agents  of  the  government  in  the  collection  of  revenue  and  the 
placing  of  the  enormous  loans  required  to  carry  on  the  war. 
During  1866  the  banks  collected  for  the  government  over  a 
billion  and  a  half  of  dollars;  but  after  the  war  the  amount 
passing  through  the  banks  was  only  a  small  portion  of  this 
sum.  For  the  past  forty  years  the  national  banks  have  con- 
tinued to  be  government  depositories;  but  the  main  agencies 
for  the  collection  and  disbursemeat  of  the  government  funds 
have  been  the  independent  treasuries. 

As  now  organized,  the  Treasury  system  consists  of  the  Treas- 


THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

ury  offices  at  Washington,  under  the  Treasurer  of  the  United 
States,  nine  sub-treasuries  under  the  charge  of  assistant  treas- 
urers, and  a  varying  number  of  designated  depositories.  The 
general  supervision  of  the  system  comes  under  the  division  of 
public  moneys,  in  the  immediate  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury. 

The  Treasurer  of  the  United  States  is  appointed  by  the  Pres- 
ident with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate;  and  a  new 
treasurer  is  appointed  with  a  change  in  the  political  control  of 
the  Presidency.  He  is  charged  with  the  receipt  of  all  moneys 
due  to  the  government,  with  the  safe-keeping  of  the  govern- 
ment funds,  and  with  the  payment  of  properly  authorized 
expenditures.  In  paying  the  interest  on  the  public  debt  and 
the  salaries  of  members  of  Congress,  the  Treasurer  acts  directly 
under  the  authority  of  the  permanent  appropriations,  and  is 
afterwards  indemnified  by  warrants  drawn  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury.  But  for  other  payments  there  must  first  be  pre- 
sented a  warrant  issued  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  coun- 
tersigned by  the  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury  and  registered  by 
the  Register  of  the  Treasury.  Warrants  for  the  expenses  of 
the  Post-Office  department  are  issued  by  the  Postmaster- 
General,  and  countersigned  by  the  auditor  for  the  Post-Office 
department. 

The  treasurer  is  also  the  agent  of  the  government  for  the 
issue  and  redemption  of  the  government  paper  currency,  and 
for  the  redemption  of  national  bank  notes.  He  further  acts  as 
custodian  of  Indian  and  other  trust  funds,  and  as  one  of  the 
sinking  fund  commissioners  for  the  District  of  Columbia. 

For  the  discharge  of  these  various  duties  there  are  a  number 
of  divisions  in  the  treasurer's  office,  each  with  a  chief  anc* 
appropriate  staff  of  clerks. 

The  sub-treasuries,  now  nine  in  number,  are  located  at  New 
York,  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Cincinnati,  Chicago, 
St.  Louis,  New  Orleans  and  San  Francisco.  That  at  New  York 
(in  Wall  street,  on  the  site  of  Federal  Hall,  where  Washington 
was  inaugurated  and  the  first  Congress  met)  is  by  far  the  most 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TREASURY— II     H7 

important;  the  financial  transactions  there  are  several  times 
the  aggregate  of  all  the  others,  and  the  moneys  actually  handled 
are  much  larger  than  at  all  other  treasuries,  including  the  cen- 
tral office  at  Washington.  The  work  of  the  sub-treasuries  con- 
sists in  receiving  and  paying  public  moneys,  receiving  deposits 
of  disbursing  officers  and  issuing  and  redeeming  government 
coin  and  paper  currency. 

The  independent  treasury  system  has  been  a  success  in  pre- 
venting the  loss  of  government  funds,  such  as  occurred  under 
early  systems  of  depositing  in  banks ;  also  as  a  means  of  retain- 
ing government  specie  when  banks  are  on  a  paper  basis.  But 
it  has  been  severely  criticised  for  its  influence  on  business  by 
its  irregular  absorption  and  disbursement  of  currency. 

A  brief  summary  of  the  development  of  the  aggregate  finan- 
cial transactions  of  the  Treasury  will  serve  to  illustrate  the 
growth  of  this  branch  of  the  government  service.  Starting  in 
1791  with  receipts  of  less  than  $5,000,000  and  expenditures 
under  $4,000,000,  the  annual  budget  increased  slowly  to  a  max- 
imum of  $17,000,000  in  1808.  The  embargo  on  foreign  trade 
reduced  revenues  in  1809  to  less  than  $8,000,000 ;  and  for  the 
next  two  years  the  disturbed  state  of  trade  was  reflected  in  the 
government  finances.  The  War  of  1812  brought  a  large  in- 
crease in  expenditures,  met  by  loans,  and  by  a  marked  increase 
of  customs  receipts  on  the  conclusion  of  peace.  In  1816, 
expenditures  were  $48,000,000  and  gross  receipts  $57,000,000. 
A  lower  scale  of  financial  transactions  was  soon  restored ;  and 
from  1820  to  the  Mexican  War  the  annual  account  was  usually 
between  $20,000,000  and  $30,000,000,  except  in  1835  and  1836, 
when  the  speculative  purchase  of  public  lands  swelled  the 
Receipts,  and  from  1837  to  1839,  when  the  expenditures  of  the 
War  department  were  noticeably  increased  on  account  of 
Indian  relations.  The  Mexican  War  brought  the  annual 
budget  up  to  $60,000,000  for  three  years ;  and  was  followed  by 
a  permanent  increase  in  government  finances,  which  exceeded 
$80,000,000  a  year  before  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War.  The 
struggle  with  the  seceding  states  caused  a  stupendous  increase, 


118  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

to  nearly  $600,000,000  in  the  first  year  and  $2,000,000,000  in  the 
last  year  of  the  war.  By  1869  the  annual  outlay  for  all  pur- 
poses was  again  below  $600,000,000 ;  and  since  then  has  seldom 
gone  below  $500,000,000  and  at  times  has  approached  $1,000,- 
000,000  a  year.  As  the  payments  on  account  of  the  war  debt 
have  decreased,  the  ordinary  expenditures  have  increased ;  the 
war  with  Spain  and  the  insurrection  in  the  Philippine  Islands 
caused  additional  outlay  for  several  years ;  and  since  then  the 
increase  in  the  army  and  navy  has  added  to  the  annual  appro- 
priations. 

While  the  collection  of  revenue  from  taxation  and  the  de- 
tailed control  over  expenditures  is  managed  by  other  branches 
of  the  department  of  the  Treasury,  the  administration  of  loans 
and  the  national  debt  comes  under  the  immediate  direction  of 
the  Treasury  proper.  The  national  debt  began  during  the  war 
for  independence;  and  the  government  of  the  United  States 
established  in  1789  accepted  the  obligations  made  by  the  Conti- 
nental Congress  and  the  Confederation,  and  also  assumed  the 
state  debts  incurred  during  the  Revolution,  the  whole  aggregat- 
ing about  $80,000,000.  This  amount  was  somewhat  increased 
under  the  federalists,  and  by  the  purchase  of  Louisiana,  so  that 
in  1804  the  outstanding  debt  was  $86,000,000.  A  steady  de- 
crease then  followed,  until  by  1812  it  had  been  reduced  to 
$45,000,000.  The  war  increased  it  to  $127,000,000 ;  but  this 
was  steadily  decreased  until  by  1835  it  had  been  practically  ex- 
tinguished. The  panic  of  1837  necessitated  renewed  borrow- 
ing ;  and  the  debt  increased  as  a  result  of  the  Mexican  War  and 
again  after  1857,  until  by  1860  it  was  $65,000,000. 

With  the  enormous  expenditures  of  the  Civil  War,  the 
interest-bearing  debt  was  increased  to  $2,381,000,000  in  1865, 
besides  $400,000,000  in  legal  tender  notes  and  other  non- 
interest-bearing  obligations.  The  payment  of  this  debt  was  at 
once  begun;  and  by  1892  the  interest-bearing  debt  had  been 
reduced  to  $585,000,000.  Deficient  revenues  and  the  war  with 
Spain  led  to  new  loans  and  an  increase  of  debt  to  $1,046,000,000 
in  1899,  which  has  been  reduced  to  $895,000,000  in  1904. 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  TEEASUEY— II     H9 

In  addition  to  the  interest-bearing  debt,  the  United  States 
has  largely  increased  its  debt  in  the  form  of  paper  currency, 
which  will  be  noted  further  in  another  section  of  this  chapter. 

ACCOUNTING  AND  AUDITING 

The  act  of  1789  organizing  the  department  of  the  Treasury 
provided  for  a  register  of  the  Treasury,  a  comptroller  of  the 
Treasury,  and  an  auditor,  who  performed  duties  similar  to 
those  performed  by  officers  with  the  same  titles  under  the  Con- 
federation, in  examining  and  approving  accounts  and  claims 
against  the  government.  In  1792  another  auditor  was  author- 
ized, under  the  title  of  accountant  of  the  department  of  War,  j 
The  development  of  government  finances  necessitated  an  exten-/ 
sion  of  the  auditing  service ;  and  an  act  of  1817  reorganized  it 
entirely,  providing  for  a  first  and  second  comptroller  of  the 
Treasury,  with  five  auditors,  in  charge  of  different  branches  of 
the  service.  In  1836  a  sixth  auditor  was  authorized;  and  in 
1849  the  office  of  commissioner  of  customs  was  established  to 
relieve  the  first  comptroller  of  appeals  from  the  auditors  in 
reference  to  customs  administration.  Further  extensions  of 
the  service  were  accomplished  by  enlarging  the  subordinate 
force  under  each  of  these  officials ;  and  the  general  system  con- 
tinued unchanged  to  1894.  In  that  year  there  was  another 
reorganization:  the  positions  of  second  comptroller  and  com- 
missioner of  customs  were  abolished,  and  the  duties  of  the 
auditors  rearranged. 

As  now  organized  the  auditing  service  consists  of  the  register 
of  the  Treasury,  the  comptroller  of  the  Treasury,  and  six  audi- 
tors with  a  staff  of  book-keepers  and  clerks. 

The  Register  of  the  Treasury  is  appointed  by  the  President 
and  Senate,  at  a  salary  of  $4,000  a  year.  He  signs  and  regis- 
ters all  United  States  bonds,  registers  bond  transfers  and  the 
redemption  of  bonds,  prepares  schedule  of  interest  payments, 
signs  transfers  of  government  funds  from  the  treasury  to  sub- 
treasuries  or  depositories,  and  receives  and  records  all 


120  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTBATION 

redeemed  or  condemned  bonds,  paper  currency  and  revenue 
stamps. 

The  Comptroller  of  the  Treasury  is  the  appellate  authority 
from  the  decisions  and  settlements  made  by  the  auditors.  He 
is  appointed  by  the  President  and  Senate,  and  receives  a  salary 
of  $5,500  a  year. 

Appeals  from  the  settlements  of  the  auditor  may  be  made 
within  one  year  by  the  claimant,  the  head  of  the  department 
interested  or  by  the  comptroller  himself ;  and  the  comptroller 's 
decision  is  final  and  conclusive  upon  the  executive  branch  of 
the  government.  Upon  the  request  of  a  disbursing  officer  or 
the  head  of  a  department,  the  comptroller  is  required  to  give 
his  decision  upon  the  validity  of  a  payment  to  be  made,  which 
decision  shall  govern  the  auditors  and  the  comptroller.  He  is 
also  required  to  approve,  disapprove  or  modify  all  decisions  of 
the  auditors  making  an  original  construction  or  modifying  an 
existing  construction  of  statutes.  By  the  regulations  of  the 
department,  the  comptroller  passes  upon  the  sufficiency  of 
authorities  to  endorse  drafts  and  receive  and  receipt  for 
moneys  from  the  government.  The  forms  of  keeping  and 
rendering  all  public  accounts  (except  those  relating  to  the 
postal  service),  the  recovery  of  debts  due  to  the  United  States, 
and  the  preservation  of  accounts  finally  settled  are  under  the 
direction  of  the  comptroller. 

The  Auditors  are  appointed  by  the  President  and  Senate,  and 
receive  salaries  of  $4,000  a  year.  Their  duties  are  in  general 
to  examine  and  settle  all  accounts  and  claims  for  the  various 
departments,  in  accordance  with  the  statutes  and  appropria- 
tions of  Congress,  and  the  decisions  of  the  comptroller  of  the 
treasury.  Each  auditor  has  charge  of  the  claims  and  accounts 
of  one  or  more  executive  departments,  and  the  specific  scope 
of  the  duties  of  each  is  indicated  in  their  full  title  as  follows : 

Auditor  for  the  Treasury  department. 

Auditor  for  the  War  department. 

Auditor  for  the  Interior  department. 

Auditor  for  the  Navy  department. 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  TREASUEY— II  121 

Auditor  for  the  Post-Office  department. 

Auditor  for  the  State  and  other  departments. 

The  auditor  for  the  Post-Office  department  has  larger 
powers  than  the  other  auditors.  He  is  in  a  sense  auditor, 
comptroller  and  register.  He  certifies  balances  due  direct  to 
the  Postmaster-General  instead  of  to  the  Treasury  department, 
as  do  the  other  auditors.  He  countersigns  and  registers  the 
warrants  upon  the  Treasury  for  postal  expenses,  superintends 
the  collection  of  debts  for  the  service  of  the  Post-Office  depart- 
ments, directs  suits  and  takes  all  legal  measures  to  enforce  pay- 
ments due  the  United  States  for  the  service  of  the  Post-Office 
department,  and  for  this  purpose  has  direct  official  relations 
with  the  solicitor  of  the  treasury  in  the  department  of  Justice. 
He  is  the  legal  custodian  of  all  contracts  of  the  Post-Office 
department. 

This  auditing  service  thus  constitutes  an  effective  adminis- 
trative control  over  the  disbursing  officers  of  all  the  other 
departments.  It  occupies,  however,  a  materially  different  posi- 
tion from  the  corresponding  service  in  other  countries,  where 
it  has  a  distinctly  judicial  aspect.  The  French  Cour  des 
Comptes  and  the  Prussian  Oberkammergericht  are  organized 
as  independent  courts,  and  are  not  considered  simply  as  subor- 
dinate branches  of  the  finance  administration.  In  Great 
Britain,  the  comptroller-general  has  a  judicial  tenure,  which 
makes  him  independent  of  the  Exchequer.  In  this  country, 
however,  the  comptroller  and  auditors  are  recognized  as  part 
of  the  department  of  the  Treasury,  while  they  hold  their  posi- 
tions subject  to  the  President 's  power  of  removal,  and  in  prac- 
tice the  principal  officers  do  change  with  party  changes  in  the 
Presidency.  They  have  nothing  of  the  judicial  organization 
or  judicial  tenure  which  characterizes  the  system  in  other  coun- 
tries. 

In  regard  to  their  independence  of  the  Treasury  department, 
however,  they  do  assimilate  to  the  general  rule.  While  the 
auditing  officers  are  grouped  under  the  department  of  the 
Treasury,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  no  authority  over 


122  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTBATION 

their  decisions.  This  has  been  the  situation  from  the  first. 
In  the  other  departments  established  in  1789,  the  secretaries 
were  authorized  to  give  orders  and  commands  to  their  subordi- 
nates. But  the  comptroller  was  designed  as  a  check  upon  the 
secretary ;  he  was  referred  to  in  the  debate  of  1789  as  an  ' '  inde- 
pendent officer/'  and  the  statute  definitely  pointed  out  his 
duties.  Attorney-General  Wirt  in  1823  stated  officially  that 
the  comptroller's  decisions  could  not  be  disturbed  by  the  Pres- 
ident himself : 

* '  My  opinion  is  that  the  settlement  made  of  the  accounts  of  individuals 
by  the  accounting  officers  appointed  by  law  is  final  and  conclusive  so  far 
as  the  executive  department  of  the  government  is  concerned. ' n 

There  was  a  period  of  considerable  discussion  on  this  point,2 
but  in  1868  Congress  sustained  Wirt's  position,  although  at 
the  same  time  giving  the  secretaries  the  right  to  demand  a 
reconsideration  by  the  comptroller  in  certain  cases,  and  to 
transmit  a  controverted  question  to  the  courts.3 

From  1797  till  the  establishment  of  the  Court  of  Claims  in 
1855  the  only  way  in  which  any  one  having  a  claim  against  the 
government  could  obtain  a  judicial  consideration  of  its  merits 
was  by  having  himself  sued  by  the  United  States.  He  could 
then,  under  certain  restrictions,  plead  his  claim  so  as  to  reduce 
or  cancel  that  of  the  government  against  him,  but  was  not 
allowed  judgment  for  any  balance  in  his  favor.  One  result  of 
this  system  was  that  public  officers  retained  disputed  fees,  so 
as  to  force  suits  by  the  government;  but  in  many  cases  no 
attempt  was  made  to  press  the  suits,  while  the  amounts  re- 
mained charged  against  the  officer  on  the  books  of  the  govern- 
ment. Other  claims  were  settled  by  private  legislation,  thus 
developing  a  powerful  lobby  to  press  such  bills  before  Congress. 

Under  the  present  system,  a  claimant  can  appeal  from  the 
decision  of  the  comptroller  of  the  treasury  to  the  Court  of 

1 1  Atty.-Gen.  Op.  624. 

2  5  Atty.-Gen.  Op.  630,  647;  7  Op.  464,  468,  297,  298. 

8  Revised  Statutes,  §  191,  1063. 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  TKEASUEY— II  123 

Claims;  and  persons  remote  from  Washington  can  resort  to 
the  United  States  district  and  circuit  courts.1  This  system 
has  in  turn  affected  the  action  of  the  comptrollers.  Knowing 
that  such  proceedings  may  be  instituted,  they  are  not  so  apt  to 
make  arbitrary  and  partial  decisions.  They  shape  their  course 
by  judicial  decisions,  and  under  permission  of  the  law,  apply 
directly  to  the  court  in  cases  involving  controverted  questions 
of  law  or  of  fact. 

CURRENCY  ADMINISTRATION 

Closely  related  as  it  sometimes  is  to  the  fiscal  operations  of 
the  government,  it  is  important  to  distinguish  clearly  from 
them,  the  public  administration  affecting  the  currency  of  the 
country.  The  latter  is  only  indirectly  and  incidentally  related 
to  the  government  revenues  and  expenditures ;  and  in  order  to 
emphasize  the  distinction,  we  shall  consider  here  not  only  the 
bureaus  dealing  exclusively  with  coinage  and  currency  mat- 
ters, but  also  the  currency  functions  of  officials  already  noted 
in  their  relations  to  the  government  finances. 

Coinage.— Acting  under  the  authority  conferred  in  the  con-, 
stitution,  Congress  has  established  government  mints  for  the 
coinage  of  money,  and  has  regulated  the  standards  of  weight 
and  purity  of  different  metallic  coins.  Mints  are  located  at 
Philadelphia,  New  Orleans,  Denver  and  San  Francisco,  that  at 
Philadelphia  being  the  most  important;  while  assay  offices 
have  also  been  established  at  other  places,  mainly  in  the  mining 
regions.  Each  mint  is  under  the  charge  of  a  superintendent, 
while  the  general  supervision  of  the  whole  service  is  in  the 
hands  of  the  director  of  the  mint.  This  officer  is  appointed 
by  the  President  and  Senate,  at  a  salary  of  $4,500  a  year.  He 
prescribes  rules,  subject  to  the  approval  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  for  the  transaction  of  business  at  the  mints  and 
assay  offices.  He  regulates  the  allotment  of  coinage,  the  dis- 
tribution of  silver  coin,  and  the  charges  to  be  collected.  All 

1  Act  of  March  3,  1887. 

See  History  of  Court  of  Claims  in  preface  to   17  Ct.  Claims  Eeport; 


124  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

appointments,  removals  and  transfers  in  the  mints  and  assay 
offices  are  subject  to  his  approval.  He  makes  annual  reports 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  one  on  the  operations  of  the 
mints,  and  another  on  the  production  of  the  precious  metals. 

Under  the  first  coinage  act  of  1792,  gold  and  silver  were  to 
be  coined  on  private  account  at  the  ratio  of  15  to  1.  In  1834 
the  ratio  was  changed  to  16  to  1.  But  as  neither  metal  was 
produced  largely  in  the  United  States,  there  was  but  little 
coinage,  until  after  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California  in  1848, 
when  there  was  a  large  increase  in  the  gold  coinage.  In  1853 
the  government  began  the  minting  of  minor  coins  on  its  own 
account.  In  1873  the  coinage  of  the  standard  silver  dollar, 
which  had  never  been  coined  in  large  quantities,  was  sus- 
pended. Just  at  this  time  new  silver  mines  were  opened  up 
in  the  west,  which  led  to  a  demand  for  silver  coinage.  In 
1878  an  act  was  passed  requiring  the  government  to  purchase 
silver  bullion  to  the  extent  of  $2,000,000  a  month,  to  be 
coined  into  silver  dollars.  At  the  same  time  the  annual  coin- 
age of  gold  increased.  In  1890  the  purchase  of  silver  bullion 
was  increased  to  4,500,000  ounces  a  month,  and  this  was  con- 
tinued until  the  repeal  of  the  act  in  1893.  But  compulsory 
coinage  was  no  longer  required,  and  the  amount  coined  was 
largely  reduced  for  a  few  years.  Since  1895  the  accumulated 
silver  bullion  in  the  treasury  has  been  coined  in  large  amounts, 
while  from  1897  to  1901  there  was  another  marked  increase  in 
the  coinage  of  gold.1 

/^Government  Paper  Currency. — In  the  early  part  of  the 
eighteenth  century  paper  currency  was  issued  in  the  colonies ; 
but  was  prohibited  by  the  British  Parliament  in  1751.  During 

1  COINAGE  AT  THE  UNITED  STATES  MINTS  (in  round  numbers) 

Gold.  Silver. 

1792-1849 $  150,000,000     $  92,000,000 

1850-1874 800,000,000       80,000,000 

1875-1900 1,316,000,000      660,000,000 

1901-1903 192,000,000       80,000,000 


$2,258,000,000     $876,000,000 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  TEEASUEY— II  125 

the  Revolution  resort  was  again  had  to  paper  promises  to  pay 
by  the  Continental  Congress,  and  after  the  war  several  of  the 
states  issued  paper  money ;  but  the  depreciation  and  currency 
troubles  which  followed  were  so  great  that  the  constitution  of 
1789  expressly  prohibited  the  states  from  emitting  bills  of 
credit,  while  as  the  national  Congress  was  not  given  power  to 
issue  paper  currency,  it  was  supposed  that  such  currency  was 
altogether  prohibited. 

On  several  occasions  during  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  when  the  treasury  was  depleted,  treasury  notes  were 
issued ;  but  these  were  clearly  recognized  as  a  temporary  loan 
and  no  attempt  was  made  to  make  them  a  legal  tender.  In 
1862  the  financial  strain  of  the  Civil  War  led  to  the  issue  of 
legal  tender  notes  (greenbacks),  up  to  about  $450,000,000; 
and  when  the  constitutionality  of  this  was  contested,  it  was 
finally  decided  to  be  within  the  implied  powers  of  Congress.1 
The  notes  depreciated  to  as  low  as  40  per  cent,  of  their  face 
value  in  specie ;  and  it  was  not  until  1879  that  the  government 
was  able  to  resume  specie  payments,  and  the  notes  were 
accepted  at  their  face  value  in  coin.  Instead,  however,  of 
retiring  the  $350,000,000  in  notes  then  outstanding,  these  have 
remained  as  a  permanent  part  of  the  circulating  medium. 

Other  forms  of  government  paper  notes  appeared  as  a  result 
of  the  purchases  of  silver  under  the  acts  of  1878  and  1890.  It 
was  found  impossible  to  keep  in  circulation  the  coins  minted 
under  the  first  act,  and  certificates  representing  the  coined 
dollars  were  issued  in  their  place.  The  act  of  1890  simply  pro- 
vided for  the  issue  of  treasury  notes  on  the  basis  of  the  silver 
bullion  purchased.  Under  these  acts  there  were  in  circulation 
in  1893  nearly  $480,000,000  of  paper  notes,  nominally  secured 
by  the  silver  in  the  treasury  vaults,  but  in  fact  resting,  like  the 
legal  tender  notes,  on  the  credit  of  the  government.  This  sit- 
uation, aided  by  a  decline  in  government  revenues  which 
threatened  to  deplete  the  reserve  of  $100,000,000  in  gold  main- 

1  Legal  Tender  Cases,  12  Wallace,  457,  and  110  U.  S.  421,  overruling 
Hepburn  v.  Griswold,  8  Wallace,  602. 


126  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

tained  against  the  greenbacks,  precipitated  the  financial  crisis 
of  1893,  and  led  to  the  repeal  of  the  silver  purchase  act  of  1890. 

Since  then  the  treasury  notes  of  1890  have  been  in  large 
measure  retired;  while  the  volume  of  silver  certificates  has 
been  increased  as  the  silver  bullion  has  been  coined.  In  1904 
there  were  $472,000,000  in  silver  certificates  outstanding,  and 
$11,500,000  in  treasury  notes.  There  are  also  in  circulation  a 
varying  amount  of  gold  certificates  (in  1904,  $490,000,000), 
representing  gold  coin  or  bullion  in  the  treasury ;  and  also  the 
legal  tender  notes  of  1862. 

Thus  from  the  issue  of  temporary  notes  caused  by  deficien- 
cies in  its  revenues,  the  national  government  has  adopted  a 
definite  policy  of  providing  a  large  share  of  the  circulating 
medium  in  the  form  of  paper  notes,  without  reference  to  the 
fiscal  condition  of  the  government.  Nevertheless,  this  distinct 
work  has  continued  to  be  performed  by  officials  primarily 
charged  with  fiscal  interests:  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury, 
the  treasurer  and  the  register  of  the  treasury.  Moreover,  until 
1900  even  the  accounts  of  the  treasury  did  not  distinguish 
clearly  between  the  fiscal  and  currency  balances.  By  an  act 
of  that  year,  however,  a  separate  account  dealing  with  the  issue 
and  redemption  of  currency  was  established,  and  the  treasury 
statements  now  distinguish  this  account  from  the  general  fund 
of  the  treasury.  At  the  same  time  the  permanent  gold  reserve 
against  uncovered  notes  was  increased  to  $150,000,000;  and 
specific  authority  was  given  to  issue  short  term  bonds  if  neces- 
sary to  keep  at  least  $100,000,000  in  this  fund. 

Supervision  of  National  Banks.— Mention  has  already  been 
made  of  the  first  and  second  banks  of  the  United  States,  which 
were  chartered  by  Congress  and  operated  under  government 
supervision.  After  the  expiration  of  the  charter  of  the  second 
bank  in  1836  there  was  no  national  supervision  of  banking 
until  the  new  system  of  national  banks  was  established  in  1862. 
In  1865  Congress  laid  a  tax  of  10  per  cent,  per  annum  on  the 
notes  of  state  banks ;  thus  hampering  the  latter  and  encourag- 
ing the  formation  of  national  banks,  which  for  a  time  did  most 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TREASURY— II  127 

of  the  banking  business  of  the  country.  In  recent  years  note 
issue  has  become  a  less  important  feature  of  banking;  and 
since  1890  there  has  been  a  marked  revival  of  state  banks  and 
trust  companies.  But  national  banks  are  still  of  somewhat 
greater  importance.  In  1904  there  were  5,457  national  banks, 
with  a  capital  of  $777,000,000,  circulating  notes  up  to  $456,- 
000,000,  and  deposits  amounting  to  over  $5,000,000,000. 

Government  supervision  over  the  national  banks  is  exercised 
in  chartering  them,  by  printing  and  issuing  their  circulating 
notes,  by  examining  their  condition,  by  assuming  charge  of 
insolvent  institutions,  and  by  taxing  them.  Most  of  these 
functions  are  undertaken  by  a  special  bureau  under  the  comp- 
troller of  the  currency ;  a  small  part,  as  the  custody  of  bonds 
and  the  collection  of  the  tax,  is  performed  by  the  treasurer  of 
the  United  States. 

The  comptroller  of  the  currency  is  appointed  by  the  Presi- 
dent and  Senate  for  a  term  of  five  years.  He  receives  a  salary 
of  $5,000  a  year,  and  is  required  to  furnish  a  bond  in  the  pen- 
alty of  $100,000.  He  is  prohibited  from  being  directly  or 
indirectly  interested  in  any  association  issuing  national  cur- 
rency. 

No  national  bank  can  begin  business  until  the  articles  of 
association  have  been  submitted  to  the  comptroller  and  ap- 
proved by  him.  It  is  his  duty  to  see  that  the  capital  stock  has 
been  subscribed1  and  paid  in,  and  that  United  States  bonds 
have  been  deposited  in  the  treasury  as  security  for  bank  notes ; 
but  there  is  no  inquiry  as  to  the  commercial  need  for  a  bank  in 
the  place  where  it  is  to  be  located.  No  increase  or  reduction  in 
the  capital  stock  may  be  made  without  the  authorization  of  the 
comptroller  of  the  currency. 

National  banks  may  issue  notes  secured  by  United  States 
bonds  deposited  in  the  treasury.  The  comptroller  of  the  cur- 
rency is  required  to  have  notes  prepared  for  this  purpose,  and 
to  issue  them  to  the  banks  when  properly  secured.  He  has  also 

1 A  minimum  of  $25,000  capital  is  required  in  towns  of  not  over  3,000 ; 
and  $50,000  in  larger  places. 


128  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

charge  of  the  redemption  of  worn,  mutilated  or  defaced  bank 
notes,  and  the  issue  of  new  notes  in  their  stead.  If  any  bank 
fails  to  pay  its  notes,  the  comptroller  is  authorized  to  sell  the 
bonds  deposited  as  security  and  provide  for  the  payment. 

Supervision  is  also  maintained  over  the  other  operations  of 
the  national  banks  by  a  system  of  reports  and  examinations. 
Each  bank  must  make  to  the  comptroller  not  less  than  five 
reports  a  year,  at  dates  named  and  on  forms  prescribed  by  him, 
showing  in  detail  its  resources  and  liabilities.  Reports  must 
also  be  made  of  all  dividends  voted,  and  of  the  earnings. 
About  eighty  national  bank  examiners  are  now  employed  in 
personal  examinations  of  the  banks.  These  are  appointed  by 
the  comptroller,  and  are  usually  assigned  to  definite  districts. 
They  have  power,  under  the  comptroller,  to  visit  without  notice 
any  national  bank,  inspect  their  books  of  account,  securities 
and  other  assets  and  liabilities,  examine  the  bank  officers  and 
directors  under  oath,  and  inquire  into  all  matters  necessary  to 
a  full  understanding  of  their  condition.  The  expenses  of  these 
examinations  are  met  by  fees  paid  by  the  banks. 

At  the  beginning  of  each  session  of  Congress,  the  comptroller 
makes  an  annual  report  on  the  condition  of  the  banks,  a  record 
of  the  work  of  the  bureau,  and  suggestions  as  to  the  amendment 
of  the  banking  and  currency  laws.  These  discussions  and  rec- 
ommendations of  the  comptrollers  have  usually  aroused  public 
interest  almost  as  much  as  the  reports  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury. 

This  system  of  government  supervision  over  national  banks 
has  been  successful  in  establishing  a  thoroughly  safe  system  of 
guaranteed  bank  notes ;  and  while  there  have  been  a  consider- 
able number  of  bank  failures,  these  have  never  been  disastrous. 
But  the  volume  of  note  issues  is  so  closely  limited  that  it  fails 
to  meet  the  demands  of  commerce ;  and  there  is  a  strong  pres- 
sure for  allowing  note  issues  on  the  general  assets  of  the  banks, 
restricting  the  amount  of  such  issues  by  taxing  the  circulation 
in  excess  of  certain  limits. 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  TEEASUEY— II  129 

MISCELLANEOUS  BUREAUS 

There  still  remain  in  the  department  of  the  Treasury  a  num- 
ber of  bureaus  which  have  no  special  relation  either  with  the 
government  finances  or  with  the  currency  or  with  each  other. 
The  marine  hospital  and  life  saving  services  might  well  be 
placed  in  the  department  of  commerce  and  labor;  and  the 
bureau  of  engraving  should  have  some  official  connection  with 
the  Government  Printing  Office.  But  as  now  organized,  they 
must  be  considered  in  connection  with  the  department  of  the 
Treasury. 

The  Public  Health  and  Marine  Hospital  Service1  is  under  the 
direction  of  the  surgeon-general,  appointed  by  the  President 
and  Senate  at  a  salary  of  $5,000  a  year.  This  officer  is  always 
a  member  of  the  medical  profession,  and  the  position  is  per- 
manent and  not  subject  to  political  changes. 

In  its  origin  this  service  was  established  to  provide  medical 
assistance  for  sick  and  disabled  seamen  in  the  merchant  marine, 
but  to  this  have  been  added  functions  in  the  prevention  and 
suppression  of  contagious  diseases.  The  marine  hospital  serv- 
ice was  established  in  1798,  and  reorganized  in  1870.  There 
are  now  forty  stations  at  the  principal  shipping  ports,  where 
hospitals  are  maintained  for  the  medical  treatment  and  care  of 
sailors,  supported  principally  by  a  small  tax  on  sailors'  wages. 
The  officers  of  the  marine  hospital  service  make  physical  exam- 
inations of  candidates  for  the  revenue  cutter  and  life  saving 
services,  of  applicants  for  pilots'  licenses  and— on  request  of 
the  master  or  agent— of  seamen  in  the  merchant  marine. 

In  1878  there  was  established  a  national  board  of  health, 
which  had  only  a  brief  existence ;  but  in  recent  years  powers 
which  might  be  assigned  to  such  a  body  have  been  conferred 
on  the  surgeon-general,  who  is  now  to  a  considerable  degree  a 
public  health  officer  for  the  whole  country.  By  the  inter-statec 
quarantine  law  of  1890,  he  was  authorized  to  adopt  measures  to* 
prevent  the  spread  of  certain  contagious  diseases  from  one 
state  to  another,  and  to  supervise  the  medical  examination  of 

1  Science,  Vol.  18,  289. 
0 


130  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

alien  immigrants.  In  1893  he  was  given  control  over  the 
national  quarantine  service.  And  in  1902  he  was  authorized 
to  call  annual  conferences  of  state  health  and  quarantine  offi- 
cials ;  and  at  the  same  time  the  name  of  the  service  was  changed 
to  the  public  health  and  marine  hospital  service,  in  order  to 
indicate  its  enlarged  functions.  The  bureau  contains  labora- 
tories for  the  investigation  of  contagious  diseases;  and  pub- 
lishes weekly  health  reports  from  state  and  foreign  health 
authorities. 

The  Life  Saving  Service,  under  the  charge  of  a  general  super- 
intendent at  $4,000  a  year,  is  established  for  the  saving  of  life 
and  secondarily  of  property  from  stranded  or  endangered  ves- 
sels upon  the  United  States  coasts.  The  general  superintendent 
has  supervision  over  the  entire  service;  and  also  prepares  an 
annual  statistical  report  on  all  marine  disasters  in  United 
States  waters,  and  disasters  to  United  States  vessels  abroad. 
The  coast  line  is  divided  into  districts,  each  under  a  superin- 
tendent, who  must  be  an  experienced  surfman  and  familiar 
with  his  coast  and  its  inhabitants.  He  selects  the  keepers  of 
the  stations,  and  is  responsible  to  the  general  superintendent 
for  the  efficiency  of  his  district.  Each  station  force  consists  of 
a  keeper  and  six  men.  The  keeper  must  be  an  experienced 
surfman,  he  selects  his  crew  and  has  charge  of  the  property 
and  controls  the  station  service.  The  stations  are  in  operation 
from  September  to  May  on  the  sea  and  gulf  coasts,  and  on  the 
lakes  during  the  navigation  season.  During  these  seasons  a 
watch  must  be  kept  at  all  times,  and  in  heavy  weather  and  at 
night  a  constant  patrol  of  the  coast.  In  case  a  wreck  is  dis- 
covered, the  station  is  notified  and  the  entire  force  is  employed 
in  rescuing  those  on  board.  So  far  as  practicable  also  property 
is  saved. 

Supervising  Architect.*— Before  1853  there  were  compara- 
tively few  government  buildings,  and  no  systematic  method  of 
providing  for  their  construction.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 

1  Philadelphia  Record,  July  12,  1902,  p.  6,  '  *  The  Government  Construc- 
tion Bureau/7 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  TEEASUKY— II 

ury  was  charged  with  the  erection  of  public  buildings,  and 
there  was  an  architect  employed  by  the  department;  but  his 
duties  were  mainly  as  inspector,  while  the  plans  for  buildings 
were  drawn  by  local  architects  and  the  buildings  were  con- 
structed under  the  supervision  of  a  local  committee.  In  1853 
the  government  owned  twenty-three  custom  houses  and  eight- 
een marine  hospitals,  completed,  and  had  fifteen  new  custom 
houses  in  course  of  construction,  costing  $8,887,350.  In  that 
year  a  bureau  of  construction  was  organized  in  the  department 
of  the  Treasury,  with  an  engineer  officer  and  a  supervising 
architect ;  and  in  1862  the  title  of  the  bureau  was  changed  to 
that  of  office  of  the  supervising  architect. 

This  office  has  the  following  duties:  (1)  the  selection  and 
purchase  of  sites  for  government  buildings,  such  as  custom 
houses,  court  houses,  post-offices,  mints  and  assay  offices;  (2) 
the  preparation  of  plans  for  the  buildings  or  the  decision 
between  competitive  plans  from  private  architects;  (3)  letting 
contracts  for  construction  or  the  actual  construction  of  build- 
ings; (4)  leasing  of  buildings  for  the  public  service  under  the 
department  of  the  Treasury.  The  office  has  a  force  of  archi- 
tects and  draughtsmen,  and  also  superintendents  of  construc- 
tion for  the  inspection  of  buildings  in  process  of  erection. 

Custodians  of  the  various  government  buildings  throughout 
the  country  are  also  paid  from  and  attached  to  the  department 
of  the  Treasury;  but  there  is  no  special  bureau  or  system  of 
supervision  for  this  branch  of  the  government  service. 

The  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing  designs,  engraves, 
prints  and  finishes  all  of  the  steel  engraving  work  for  the  gov- 
ernment; embracing  notes,  bonds,  certificates,  national  bank 
notes,  internal  revenue,  postage  and  customs  stamps,  treasury 
drafts  and  checks,  disbursing  officers'  checks,  licenses,  commis- 
sions, and  patent  and  pension  certificates.  It  is  the  largest  and 
most  complete  establishment  of  the  kind  in  the  world.  It  is 
under  the  direction  of  a  chief  at  $4,500  a  year,  and  is  an  en- 
tirely distinct  institution  from  the  Government  Printing  Office. 

The  Secret  Service  is  a  body  of  detective  agents  chiefly  con- 


132  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

cerned  with  the  discovery  of  frauds  and  crimes  against  the 
national  government,  particularly  counterfeiting  coins  and 
currency.  Some  of  its  agents  are  employed  in  guarding  the 
President ;  and  in  time  of  war  its  work  of  espionage  is  further 
extended.  The  service  has  been  established  since  1861;  and 
for  a  few  years  was  attached  to  the  department  of  State.  In 
1865  it  was  transferred  to  the  department  of  the  Treasury, 
where  a  special  division  was  established,  with  a  chief  as  gen- 
eral superintendent  of  the  service  and  a  small  staff  of  clerks  to 
look  after  the  correspondence  and  reports  of  the  agents.  The 
agents  are  employed  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  wherever 
their  services  may  be  needed  from  time  to  time. 


CHAPTER   IX 
THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  WAR 

References. — L.  D.  INGEBSOLL:  History  of  the  War  Department  (1879) ; 
Military  Laws  of  the  United  States  (1901);  Army  Regulations. — 
B.  P.  THIAN  :  Legislative  History  of  the  General  Staff  of  the  Army 
of  the  United  States  (Senate  Document,  1901,  No.  229).-— D.  Y. 
THOMAS  :  A  History  of  Military  Government  in  Newly  Acquired  Ter- 
ritory of  the  United  States  (Columbia  University  Studies  in  Political 
Science,  Vol.  20). — T.  H.  HAMERSLEY:  Army  and  Navy  Eegister, 
1776-1887. — T.  A.  DODGE,  in  N.  S.  SHALEE:  United  States,  I,  ch  11. — 
Scribner's  Magazine,  30:286-593;  33:661;  34:85. — United  Service 
Magazine,  4:309. — North  American  Review,  168:385;  174:275. — 
Atlantic  Monthly,  89:437. — Forum,  30:653;  33:151. — Review  of 
Reviews,  18:686. — Harper's  Monthly,  48:670;  49:101,  401. — Ameri- 
can Law  Review,  32 : 366. 

WEST  POINT  ACADEMY 

North  American  Review,  34:246;  52:23;  57:269;  159:61;  160:668.— 
United  Service,  9:366.— International  Monthly,  3:411. 

EIVER  AND  HARBOR  WORKS 

Chief  of  Engineers,  U.  S.  A.,  Annual  Reports. — Lalor's  Cyclopedia,  on 
Internal  Improvements. — A.  B.  HART:  Practical  Essays,  No.  9. — Journal 
of  the  Franklin  Institute,  65:21;  139:343. — North  American  Review, 
24:1;  51:130,  331;  158:343.— Annals  Am.  Acad,  Soc.  and  Pol.  Sci.,  2:782. 

THE  history  of  the  department  of  War,  like  that  of  the  other 
departments  thus  far  considered,  begins  with  the  Continental 
Congress ;  and  the  machinery  for  carrying  on  the  Revolution- 
ary War  was  the  first  and  most  important  branch  of  adminis- 
tration which  that  body  had  to  undertake.  In  the  colonies  the 
management  of  military  affairs  had  been  under  the  immediate 
control  of  the  governors,  as  the  representatives  of  the  Crown. 
The  Continental  Congress,  however,  had  no  single  executive; 
and  the  early  measures  adopted  were  to  appoint  committees 
for  particular  business.  One  of  the  first  committees  of  the 

133 


134  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

Congress  was  that  to  consider  ways  and  means  to  secure  ammu- 
nition and  military  stores,  established  in  May,  1775.  Other 
committees  followed  for  special  purposes ;  and  as  the  war  pro- 
gressed grand  committees  were  organized  with  more  general 
duties.  In  June,  1776,  a  board  of  war  and  ordnance  was 
established,  resembling  in  form  the  contemporary  British  ord- 
nance department,  but  embracing  also  the  functions  of  the 
British  secretary  for  war.  It  consisted  of  five  members  of 
Congress,  and  John  Adams  was  the  first  chairman  of  the  board, 
which  before  long  assumed  the  functions  of  the  various  other 
military  committees.  In  October,  1777,  a  new  board  of  war 
was  established,  composed  at  first  of  three  and  later  of  five 
members,  not  delegates  in  Congress,  of  which  General  Gates 
became  chairman  in  1778.  The  former  board  of  war  and  ord- 
nance, however,  continued  in  existence  as  a  supervising  com- 
mittee of  the  Congress.  In  spite  of  the  disadvantages  of  this 
system,  due  to  frequent  changes  in  the  board  and  lack  of 
responsibility,  it  continued  until  1781.  After  a  long  contest 
in  the  Congress  it  was  resolved  (February  7)  to  appoint  a 
Secretary  at  War ;  and  after  eight  months'  more  delay,  in  Octo- 
ber, General  Benjamin  Lincoln  was  chosen  for  the  position; 
and  in  January,  1782,  the  new  organization  was  effected  and 
the  board  of  war  retired.  With  the  conclusion  of  peace,  the 
War  office  became  of  little  importance,  but  under  Henry  Knox, 
who  became  secretary  in  1785,  the  department  was  thoroughly 
organized  and  well  conducted. 

In  1789  the  act  organizing  the  War  department  under  the 
constitution  was  passed,  August  7.  So  far  as  the  management 
of  the  army  was  concerned  this  made  no  important  changes, 
and  Knox  was  continued  as  secretary.  The  duties  of  the  de- 
partment were,  however,  extended  to  include  the  management 
of  naval  affairs,  transferred  from  the  treasury  board,  the  super- 
vision of  bounty  lands,  Indian  affairs  and  one  or  two  other 
matters.  These  additional  duties  have  since  been  removed 
from  the  department  of  War  to  the  department  of  the  Navy 
[(1798)  and  the  department  of  the  Interior  (1849). 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  WAR  135 

On  the  other  hand,  besides  the  development  of  the  depart- 
ment in  the  field  of  military  administration,  other  functions 
have  been  imposed  of  a  non-military  character.  It  has  under 
its  charge  the  improvement  of  rivers  and  harbors,  carried  on 
by  the  engineer  corps  of  the  army ;  and  since  1898  has  had  con- 
trol over  the  administration  of  outlying  possessions  of  the 
United  States.  Besides  its  own  essential  functions,  the  depart- 
ment of  War  is  thus  also  a  department  of  public  works  and 
a  department  of  the  colonies. 

To  make  clear  the  distinction  between  the  various  adminis- 
trative services  under  this  department,  they  will  be  examined 
under  different  headings.  The  strictly  military  administra- 
tion includes,  first,  the  organization  of  the  army  as  a  force  of 
combatants,  and  second,  the  auxiliary  administrative  bureaus. 
After  these  will  be  examined  the  administration  of  public 
works  and  of  colonial  civil  government. 

THE  ARMY 

The  Revolutionary  War  was  fought  with  an  irregular  army, 
composed  of  successive  relays  of  untrained  volunteers.  The 
total  number  of  enlistments  was  231,791,  while  in  addition 
there  were  various  bodies  of  militia  estimated  at  from  60,000  to 
100,000;  but  there  were  never  more  than  25,000  men  on  the 
rolls  at  one  time,  and  the  average  service  of  each  man  was  less 
than  one  year.  Until  1777  the  company  and  regimental  officers 
were  elected,  while  Congress  appointed  only  the  general  officers. 
Systematic  and  effective  drill  and  discipline  was  not  intro- 
duced until  1778,  when  Steuben  took  charge  of  this  work. 

In  1783  the  army  was  disbanded,  except  two  small  guards  of 
eighty  men  at  Fort  Pitt  and  West  Point.  The  western  forts 
were  garrisoned  by  state  militia  until  1785,  when  ten  companies 
of  United  States  troops  were  organized ;  and  this  number  was 
increased  in  1789  to  840  men.  The  following  year  there  was  a 
slight  increase ;  and  during  the  campaigns  against  the  Indians 
in  the  Northwest  territory  the  army  was  raised  to  5,000  in 
1792,  with  some  state  militia  also  employed;  but  by  1796  the 


136  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

number  was  reduced  to  2,800.  In  1798,  at  the  time  of  the 
threatened  war  with  France,  a  force  of  40,000  plus  volunteers 
was  authorized;  but  only  a  small  portion  was  enlisted;  and 
after  the  trouble  the  numbers  were  again  reduced  to  less  than 
3,000.  In  Jefferson's  administration  came  the  more  definite 
organization  of  a  force  representing  all  branches  of  military 
service.  In  1802,  West  Point  academy  was  established;  and 
in  1808,  a  force  of  10,000  men  in  eleven  regiments  was  enlisted 
in  view  of  the  difficulties  with  Great  Britain.  Before  the  War 
of  1812  broke  out,  the  troops  were  used  in  suppressing  Indian 
outbreaks  in  the  Northwest. 

During  the  war  of  1812,  the  authorized  strength  of  the  army 
was  raised  to  68,000 ;  and  the  total  enlistments  reached  85,000, 
while  militia  aggregating  470,000  were  also  called  out.  But 
there  were  never  more  than  30,000  in  the  regular  army  and  as 
many  more  of  militia  in  service  at  one  time.  In  the  New  Eng- 
land states  the  governors  opposed  calling  out  the  militia ;  and 
although  the  right  of  the  President  was  established,  this  was 
the  last  time  when  the  state  militia,  as  such,  have  been  em- 
ployed by  the  national  government.  The  army  was  in  fact 
unsuccesful  in  this  war,  notably  at  Detroit,  Quebec  and  Wash- 
ington, but  its  record  was  somewhat  retrieved  by  Jackson's 
victory  at  New  Orleans.  In  1815  the  army  was  reduced  to 
10,000 ;  and  in  1821  to  6,000 ;  and  under  Calhoun  as  Secretary 
of  War  this  army  was  now  established  on  a  permanent  basis. 
In  1818,  the  staff  corps  was  organized  on  a  system  which  re- 
mained in  force  until  1901.  From  1815  to  1846  the  army  was 
engaged  in  frontier  service,  and  in  several  Indian  wars,  e.  g., 
the  Seminole  War,  in  1818 ;  the  Black  Hawk  War,  1831-32 ; 
and  the  Seminole  War,  1835-1843. 

At  the  outbreak  of  the  Mexican  War  the  army  consisted  of 
8,200  men ;  and  to  carry  on  this  contest  a  large  increase  was 
made.  Altogether,  101,280  men  were  enlisted,  31,000  of  them 
in  the  regular  army;  but  the  maximum  strength  at  one  time 
was  21,700  regulars  and  29,000  volunteers.  The  actual  fight- 
ing was  done  mainly  by  the  regular  army,  now  under  the  con- 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  WAR  137 

trol  of  officers  trained  at  West  Point  academy ;  and  in  marked 
contrast  with  the  War  of  1812,  the  military  affairs  were  thor- 
oughly successful. 

On  the  conclusion  of  peace  in  1848,  the  volunteers  were  dis- 
missed, and  the  regular  army  was  again  reduced,  at  first  to 
fifteen  regiments  with  8,800  men,  but  in  1855  the  number  was 
increased  to  12,000.  This  army  was  now  employed  in  explor- 
ing and  surveying  expeditions  west  of  the  Mississippi,  in 
Indian  conflicts,  in  the  Kansas-Nebraska  troubles  of  1855-6, 
and  in  an  expedition  against  the  Mormons  in  1857. 

When  the  southern  states  seceded  in  1860-1,  a  fourth  of  the 
army  officers  resigned ;  and  as  large  a  proportion  of  the  enlisted 
men  were  made  prisoners  in  Texas  at  the  outbreak  of  hostilities, 
leaving  only  about  8,000  troops  as  the  nucleus  for  the  Union 
forces.  During  the  struggle  the  army  developed  in  size  far 
beyond  anything  ever  before  seen  in  America.  An  increase  to 
41,000  was  authorized  for  the  regular  army,  but  not  over  26,000 
were  enrolled;  and  the  great  bulk  of  the  Union  troops  was 
composed  of  volunteers.  These  volunteers  were  enlisted,  or- 
ganized and  partly  drilled  by  state  authorities  before  definitely 
enlisting  under  the  national  government ;  and  after  Bull  Kun 
no  battles  were  fought  with  untrained  men.  The  grand  total 
of  enlistments  during  the  Civil  War  was  2,750,000;  and  the 
maximum  enrollment  was  918,000  in  January,  1863,  and  over 
a  million  during  1864  and  1865.  But  the  largest  number  pres- 
ent in  the  army  at  one  time  was  not  over  700,000,  in  January, 
1863 ;  and  of  the  million  men  on  the  rolls  during  the  last  year, 
not  more  than  260,000  were  with  the  fighting  armies.  During 
this  war  93,000  men  were  killed  in  battle,  186,000  died  of  dis- 
ease, and  25,000  died  from  other  causes. 

In  1866  the  volunteer  forces  were  disbanded,  and  the  regular 
army  was  reorganized  with  54,000  men.  This  number  was 
reduced  in  1869 ;  and  in  1874  there  was  a  further  reduction  to 
26,000,  which  remained  the  authorized  strength  for  twenty- 
four  years.  Up  to  1887  the  greater  part  of  the  troops  was 
stationed  on  the  western  frontier  and  engaged  in  suppressing 


138  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

Indian  outbreaks;  but  after  these  difficulties  were  overcome, 
during  the  next  ten  years  more  and  more  of  the  troops  were 
stationed  in  permanent  posts  near  large  cities.  Reference  has 
already  been  made1  to  the  use  of  troops  at  Chicago  in  1894  to 
suppress  violent  interference  with  the  postal  service  and  inter- 
state commerce.  They  have  also  been  used  on  various  occasions 
to  suppress  domestic  violence,  mainly  in  the  mining  regions  of 
the  far  west,  on  the  application  of  state  governors.2  During 
this  period  following  the  Civil  War  the  engineer  officers  came 
to  be  largely  employed  in  connection  with  the  extensive  river 
and  harbor  works  undertaken  by  the  national  government. 

Another  sudden  increase  in  the  army  was  brought  about  by 
the  Spanish  War  of  1898.  During  the  war  with  Spain  58,000 
men  were  enrolled  in  the  regular  army  and  216,000  more  in 
volunteer  forces ;  while  40,000  troops  were  sent  to  the  field, 
mostly  regulars.  These  numbers  were  soon  reduced;  but  the 
fighting  in  the  Philippine  Islands  has  necessitated  a  permanent 
increase  in  the  army.  In  1899  a  force  of  65,000  in  the  regular 
army  and  35,000  volunteers  was  authorized.  In  1901  the  vol- 
unteers were  disbanded  and  the  regular  army  was  reorganized 
with  an  authorized  maximum  strength  of  100,000 ;  but  at  the 
present  time  the  total  strength  of  the  army  is  about  60,000 
men,  of  which  25,000  are  stationed  in  the  Philippine  Islands. 

Under  Secretary  Root  (1899-1903)  radical  changes  have 
been  made  in  the  administrative  arrangements.  In  1901  the 
staff  departments  were  reorganized,  and  in  1903  a  general  staff 
was  established  after  the  model  of  the  armies  in  continental 
Europe,  and  the  relations  of  the  national  government  to  the 
state  militia  have  been  reorganized. 

At  the  present  time  the  combatant  army  consists  of  thirty 
regiments  of  infantry,  fifteen  regiments  of  cavalry,  and  one 
corps  of  artillery.  Each  infantry  regiment  consists  of  three 
battalions,  each  containing  four  companies,  while  every  com- 

1  See  page  38. 

2  Cf .  F.  T.  Wilson,  Federal  Aid  in  Domestic  Disturbances,  Senate  Docu- 
ment 209,  57th  Congress,  2d  session  (1903). 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  WAE  139 

pany  may  have  from  68  to  152  officers  and  men.  Each  cavalry 
regiment  consists  of  three  squadrons,  each  with  four  troops, 
every  troop  having  from  68  to  103  officers  and  men.  The  artil- 
lery corps  consists  of  thirty  batteries  of  field  artillery  and  one 
hundred  and  twenty-six  batteries  of  coast  artillery,  with  a  total 
of  not  more  than  18,920  men.  These  army  units  are  organized 
into  brigades,  consisting  of  three  or  more  regiments,  each  of  the 
three  branches  of  combatants  being  represented;  and  further 
into  divisions,  each  of  which  consists  of  three  brigades. 

In  the  large  European  armies  there  are  still  larger  units,  the 
army  corps,  each  consisting  of  three  or  more  divisions,  under 
the  command  of  a  lieutenant-general  or  field  marshal,  which 
are  brought  together  for  field  manoeuvres  on  a  large  scale  every 
year.  In  the  United  States  even  the  divisions  and  brigades, 
and  often  the  regiments  as  well,  are  subdivided  and  scattered 
at  different  posts,  and  are  seldom  brought  together  for  field 
manoeuvres. 

Entirely  independent  of  the  army  units  are  the  territorial 
military  districts.  The  whole  territory  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  United  States  is  divided  into  five  military  divisions ;  and 
each  of  these  in  turn  is  subdivided  into  two  or  more  military 
departments.  Each  division  is  under  the  command  of  a  major- 
general  ;  and  most  of  the  departments  are  under  the  command 
of  brigadier-generals.  The  various  bodies  of  troops  and  the 
commanding  officers  are  transferred  from  one  division  and 
department  to  another  according  to  the  needs  of  the  service 
from  time  to  time. 

State  militia  are  under  the  immediate  control  of  state  author- 
ities; but  the  national  government  lends  important  financial 
and  other  aid  as  a  means  of  maintaining  higher  standards. 
This  aid  includes  the  supply  of  arms  and  brief  periods  of  field 
training  under  army  officers  in  state  and  inter-state  encamp- 
ments. 

Except  during  the  latter  part  of  the  Civil  War,  the  army  of 
the  United  States  has  always  been  recruited  by  voluntary 
enlistment.  Kecruits  must  be  able-bodied  men  between  the 


140  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

ages  of  eighteen  and  thirty-five  at  the  time  of  their  first  enlist- 
ment. All  enlistments  are  for  three  years ;  and  desertion  with- 
in this  period  is  severely  punished— in  time  of  war  death  is  the 
authorized  penalty.  Keenlistments  are  encouraged  by  increase 
of  pay  for  continuous  service,  and  a  retiring  pension  for  those 
who  have  served  for  thirty  years. 

Army  officers  are  appointed  by  the  President  by  and  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate.  In  times  of  peace,  this 
appointing  power  is  ordinarily  limited  to  graduates  of  the  West 
Point  military  academy,  and  to  the  promotion  of  officers  mainly 
on  the  basis  of  seniority  of  service.  But  during  war,  or  when 
there  is  for  other  reasons  an  increase  in  the  army,  appointments 
must  be  made  from  outside  sources,  and  there  is  room  for  polit- 
ical and  personal  influences.  Thus  of  the  2,900  line  officers  in 
1902,  1,800  had  been  appointed  since  the  beginning  of  the  war 
with  Spain,  and  of  these  but  276  were  graduates  of  West  Point 
academy. 

Ordinarily  an  officer  is  first  appointed  as  second  lieutenant ; 
and  by  promotion  he  may  become  in  turn  first  lieutenant, 
captain,  major,  lieutenant-colonel,  colonel,  brigadier-general, 
major-general  and  lieutenant-general.  There  are  now  twenty- 
four  brigadier-generals,  seven  major-generals  and  one  lieuten- 
ant-general. For  long  periods  the  highest  military  officer  in 
the  United  States  has  been  a  major-general;  and  the  position 
of  lieutenant-general  has  been  held  only  by  Scott,  Grant,  Sher- 
man, Sheridan,  Schofield,  Miles,  Young  and  Chaffee.  The 
higher  rank  of  general  has  been  even  more  exceptional;  and 
has  been  given  only  to  Washington,  Grant,  Sherman  and  Sher- 
idan. Officers'  salaries  begin  at  $1,400  for  an  infantry  second 
lieutenant,  and  increase  slowly  to  $3,500  for  colonels.  Briga- 
dier-generals receive  $5,500,  major-generals  $7,500,  and  the 
lieutenant-general  $11,000  a  year. 

MILITARY  BUREAUS 

Administrative  services  connected  with  the  management  of 
the  army  are  under  the  control  of  the  various  bureaus  of  the 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  WAB 

War  department.  The  general  supervision  of  all  of  these 
bureaus  is  in  the  hands  of  the  Secretary  of  War  and  an  assist- 
ant Secretary  of  War— the  latter  office  established  in  1890; 
both  of  whom,  with  their  immediate  subordinates,  are  chosen 
from  civil  life.  Each  of  the  various  staff  bureaus,  on  the  other 
hand,  is  in  charge  of  army  officers.  Until  1901  assignments  to 
staff  positions  were  permanent;  and  the  higher  positions  in 
each  bureau  were  filled  by  the  promotion  of  officers  already  in 
the  bureau.  But  since  that  date  vacancies  in  these  bureaus, 
except  the  engineer  and  medical  services,  are  filled  by  detailing 
a  line  officer  for  a  period  of  four  years,  after  which  he  must 
serve  at  least  two  years  in  the  line  before  again  going  on  staff 
duty. 

The  General  Staff,  established  in  1903,  is  intended  to  prepare 
intelligent  and  effective  plans  for  the  conduct  of  military  oper- 
ations ;  and  it  is  hoped  will  also  serve  to  harmonize  the  civil  and 
military  control  of  the  army.  Formerly  the  military  officer  of 
highest  rank  was  designated  the  commanding  general;  but 
while  his  title  seemed  to  imply  an  authority  over  the  whole 
army,  his  specific  powers  were  very  limited,  and  it  frequently 
happened  that  the  Secretary  of  War  preferred  to  consult  with 
and  act  on  the  advice  of  staff  officers  of  inferior  rank.  This 
situation  inevitably  led  to  friction  between  the  commanding 
general  and  the  secretary ;  which  it  may  be  noted  has  also  often 
been  the  case  in  Great  Britain,  where  there  is  the  same  attempt 
to  place  a  civil  official  above  the  commanding  general. 

Under  the  new  system  the  title  of  commanding  general  has 
disappeared ;  and  in  its  place  there  is  to  be  a  chief  of  staff,  with 
the  rank  of  lieutenant-general,  to  be  designated  by  the  Presi- 
dent for  a  period  of  four  years,  thus  making  it  possible  for  each 
President  to  select  an  officer  in  whom  he  has  confidence.  In 
addition  to  the  chief,  the  general  staff  consists  of  selected  offi- 
cers of  various  ranks,  from  captains  to  major-generals,  also 
assigned  to  this  service  for  a  brief  term  of  years.  The  prin- 
cipal duties  of  this  general  staff  are  to  prepare  plans  for  the 
national  defense  and  for  the  mobilization  of  the  military  forces 


142  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

in  time  of  war ;  to  act  as  an  investigation  and  intelligence  office 
in  reference  to  the  efficiency  of  the  army  and  its  preparation 
for  military  operations;  and  to  advise  the  Secretary  of  War 
and  general  officers  in  coordinating  the  action  of  the  different 
administrative  bureaus. 

The  chief  of  staff  has  also,  under  the  direction  of  the  Presi- 
dent or  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  the  supervision  of  all  the 
troops  of  the  line  and  of  the  various  administrative  bureaus, 
auxiliary  to  military  operations,  which  had  hitherto  been  al- 
most independent  of  each  other  and  of  any  general  control. 

The  Military  Secretary  is  an  office  established  in  1904,  by 
consolidating  the  adjutant-general's  bureau  with  the  record 
and  pension  office.  It  is  the  bureau  of  records,  orders,  and 
correspondence  of  the  army  and  militia.  It  has  charge  of  the 
recruiting  service ;  keeps  complete  records  in  regard  to  the  per- 
sonnel of  the  army  (including  enlistments,  appointments,  pro- 
motions, resignations,  deaths  and  other  casualties) ;  transmits 
to  subordinate  officers  military  orders  of  the  President  and 
Secretary  of  War ;  and  preserves  reports  of  the  military  move- 
ments and  operations  of  troops.  Before  the  establishment  of 
the  general  staff,  the  adjutant-general  was  the  only  source  of 
military  information,  and  he  advised  and  prepared  many  of  the 
military  orders,  and  thus  often  exercised  more  powers  than  the 
commanding  general.  Under  the  present  arrangements  the 
military  secretary  is  distinctly  subordinate  to  the  chief  of  staff. 

The  former  record  and  pension  office  was  organized  in  1892 
for  preservation  of  the  records  of  the  volunteer  armies  of  the 
United  States.  Constant  reference  is  made  to  these  records 
by  the  pension  and  treasury  officials ;  but  the  bureau  itself  took 
no  direct  part  in  pension  administration,  and  its  title  was 
somewhat  of  a  misnomer.  Besides  the  records  of  enlistment 
and  service  in  the  volunteer  armies,  the  office  has  the  records 
of  the  defunct  provost  marshal-general's  bureau,  the  f reed- 
men's  bureau,  and  also  the  legislative,  executive  and  judicial 
archives  of  the  Confederate  government.  An  important  work 


THE  DEPABTMENT  OF  WAE  143 

of  this  bureau  has  been  the  publication  of  the  "Official  Records 
of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion. ' ' 

The  Inspectors-General  are  a  small  force  of  army  officers,  the 
chief  holding  the  rank  of  brigadier-general,  who  visit  and  in- 
spect military  stations,  depots,  fortifications  and  public  works 
in  charge  of  army  officers ;  and  examine  and  report  on  the  con- 
duct, discipline  and  efficiency  of  the  officers  and  troops,  the 
condition  of  arms,  equipment,  supplies  and  government  prop- 
erty, the  expenditure  of  money  and  the  accounts  of  disbursing 
officers.  Every  military  post  must  be  visited  once  a  year,  and 
the  financial  accounts  are  examined  three  times  a  year. 

The  Quartermaster-General  has  charge  of  army  transporta- 
tion and  of  supplies  other  than  food,  arms  and  ammunition. 
His  bureau  arranges  for  transportation  by  railroad  and  main- 
tains a  fleet  of  vessels  for  moving  the  army  over  the  seas.  It 
furnishes  animals,  forage,  wagons  for  transport  service,  cloth- 
ing, camp  and  garrison  equipment,  barracks  and  storehouses. 
Large  storehouses  are  owned  or  rented  by  the  government  in  a 
number  of  important  cities,  where  the  various  army  stores  are 
collected  and  held  for  shipment  when  needed.  Before  1901, 
assignments  to  this  bureau  were  permanent,  and  could  be  made 
from  persons  not  in  the  army;  but  now  new  assignments  are 
made  from  line  officers  for  a  period  of  not  more  than  four 
years. 

The  Commissary-General  of  Subsistence,  an  officer  with  the 
rank  of  brigadier-general,  has  charge  of  the  subsistence  bureau. 
This  provides  and  issues  the  regular  rations,  purchases  and 
distributes  articles  authorized  to  be  kept  for  sale  to  the  officers 
and  men,  and  makes  a  preliminary  examination  of  the  accounts 
of  subsistence  expenditure.  It  maintains  large  storehouses  in 
various  cities  and  commissary  posts  with  the  various  divisions 
of  the  army,  under  the  charge  of  army  officers  chosen  as  in  the 
quartermaster-general 's  bureau. 

The  Surgeon-General  has  control  of  the  medical  service. 
This  is  charged  with  the  duty  of  caring  for  the  sick  and 
wounded,  furnishing  medical  aid  and  hospital  supplies,  except 


144  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTBATION 

animals,  and  investigating  the  sanitary  condition  of  the  army. 
Supply  depots  and  several  permanent  hospitals  are  maintained, 
besides  field  hospitals  when  the  army  is  in  active  operation. 
Physicians  are  appointed  to  the  service  from  civil  life,  and  are 
given  rank  as  army  officers.  A  corps  of  nurses  and  other 
assistants  and  employees  are  also  attached  to  the  service. 

The  Paymaster-General  has  charge  of  paying  the  officers  and 
men  and  the  civil  employees  of  the  department,  and  conducts  a 
preliminary  examination  of  the  accounts  of  the  disbursing  offi- 
cers. Officers  and  men  are  ordinarily  paid  once  a  month.  The 
various  paymasters  are  army  officers,  with  such  clerical  assist- 
ance as  is  necessary. 

The  Signal  Corps,  consisting  of  35  officers  and  750  enlisted 
men,  has  charge  of  the  construction,  repair  and  operation  of 
military  telegraph  lines,  and  the  collection  and  transmission  of 
information  for  the  army  in  the  field. 

The  Judge  'Advocate-General  is  the  head  of  the  bureau  of 
military  justice.  All  charges  and  specifications  against  officers 
for  military  offences  are  prepared  in  his  name ;  and  he  receives, 
reviews  and  keeps  records  of  all  courts-martial,  courts  of  in- 
quiry and  military  commissions.  He  reports  on  applications 
for  clemency  in  the  case  of  military  prisoners.  He  also  acts  as 
legal  adviser  to  the  department  of  War  on  all  questions  per- 
taining to  the  army,  and  also  in  civil  matters,  such  as  lands 
under  the  control  of  the  department  and  the  erection  of  bridges 
over  navigable  waters.  He  and  the  staff  of  judge  advocates 
are  appointed  from  army  officers  who  have  had  legal  training. 
The  judge  advocates  act  as  prosecuting  officers  and  legal  advis- 
ers to  courts-martial  and  courts  of  inquiry. 

The  Board  of  Ordnance  and  Fortifications  has  charge  of  spe- 
cial investigations  in  reference  to  ordnance  for  fortifications, 
and  general  supervision  of  the  construction  and  armament  of 
such  fortifications.  The  detailed  work  is,  however,  performed 
by  the  engineer  corps  and  the  ordnance  bureau.  The  board 
consists  of  six  army  officers  (the  chief  of  staff,  one  engineer 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  WAR  145 

and  one  ordnance  officer,  and  three  officers  from  the  artillery 
corps)  and  one  civilian  member. 

The  Chief  of  Ordnance  has  charge  of  the  ordnance  bureau, 
which  purchases,  manufactures  and  distributes  artillery,  small 
arms  and  all  the  munitions  of  war  for  the  fortresses,  field 
armies  and  state  militia.  This  includes  determining  the  prin- 
ciples of  construction,  prescribing  in  detail  the  models  and 
forms  of  military  weapons,  maintaining  uniformity  and  econ- 
omy in  their  manufacture  and  ensuring  their  good  quality. 
For  the  manufacture  of  various  arms  and  ammunition  there 
are  eleven  arsenals  in  different  parts  of  the  country,  the  most 
important  of  which  are  the  Watervliet  arsenal  for  the  manu- 
facture of  heavy  guns  and  the  Rock  Island  arsenal  and  Spring- 
field (Mass.)  armory  for  the  manufacture  of  rifles  and  ammu- 
nition. About  seventy  army  officers  are  attached  to  the  bu- 
reau, besides  ordnance  sergeants  and  a  large  force  of  clerical 
and  mechanical  employees. 

PUBLIC  WORKS 

The  Corps  of  Engineers  is  not  only  the  engineering  branch 
of  the  army,  but  also  a  department  for  the  construction  of  pub- 
lic works  which  have  little  or  no  relation  to  military  operations. 
In  its  primary  capacity,  it  has  charge  of  the  construction  of 
military  roads  and  bridges ;  and  in  this  direction  its  work  has 
been  mainly  confined  to  temporary  works  for  armies  in  the 
field.  As  a  further  development  of  its  military  activities,  the 
corps  of  engineers  erect  permanent  fortifications,  the  most 
important  of  these  being  along  the  seaboard  for  coast  defence. 
Their  non-military  works  have  included  geographical  explora- 
tio.  nd  surveys  in  the  unsettled  districts  of  the  country,  the 
construction  of  river  and  harbor  improvements,  and  municipal 
public  works  in  the  District  of  Columbia.  The  honor  men 
from  the  West  Point  academy  usually  join  the  engineer  corps ; 
and  the  officers  are  thus  a  select  body  of  able  and  trained  men 
holding  permanent  positions  in  the  government  service.  Dur- 
ing war,  a  considerable  number  of  engineers  are  with  the  troops 
10 


146  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

in  the  field.  But  the  greater  number  are  located  at  different 
posts  throughout  the  country  in  charge  of  the  public  works  of 
a  definite  local  district.  Several  local  districts  form  larger 
districts  under  the  general  direction  of  higher  officers,  while 
the  whole  corps  is  under  the  supervision  of  the  chief  of  engi- 
neers, who  holds  the  rank  of  brigadier-general. 

Important  non-military  public  works  have  been  undertaken 
by  the  national  government  mainly  since  the  Civil  War.  Gal- 
latin,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  as  early  as  1808  prepared  a 
plan  for  an  extensive  series  of  canals  which  should  form  an 
inland  water  route  along  the  Atlantic  coast ;  but  this  plan  was 
never  executed  by  the  government,  although  some  links  have 
been  built  by  private  enterprise.  In  1807  the  government 
began  the  construction  of  the  Cumberland  road,  which  was 
eventually  constructed  from  Maryland  into  Indiana.  But 
questions  as  to  the  constitutionality  of  such  works  prevented 
any  large  development  at  that  time  of  national  undertakings ; 
and  it  was  left  to  the  states  to  promote  the  construction  of 
canals  and  railroads. 

The  first  appropriation  for  river  and  harbor  improvements 
was  made  in  1822,  amounting  to  $22,000 ;  and  small  appropria- 
tions were  made  almost  annually  after  1854,  usually  under  the 
head  of  "  fortifications. "  In  1867,  the  first  large  appropria- 
tion was  made,  amounting  to  nearly  $9,000,000;  and  every 
Congress  since  then  has  made  large  appropriations,  showing  a 
strong  tendency  to  increase  in  amount.  The  largest  annual 
appropriation  has  been  $25,000,000,  in  1900.  There  is  said  to 
be  a  great  deal  of  "  log-rolling "  in  securing  the  passage  of  river 
and  harbor  bills,  each  member  of  Congress  insisting  on  some 
appropriation  for  improvements  in  his  district.  Owing  to  this, 
there  is  a  considerable  part  of  the  expenditure  wasted  on  unim- 
portant works ;  and  still  more  spent  on  distinctly  local  works. 
A  good  deal  of  loss  has  also  been  caused  by  the  method  of 
making  appropriations  only  for  the  amounts  to  be  spent  in  a 
single  year.  When,  as  often  happened,  no  river  and  harbor 
bill  became  law,  the  unfinished  works  were  not  only  delayed 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  WAE  147 

but  often  seriously  injured  during  the  cessation  of  work.  This 
latter  difficulty  is  now  obviated  to  some  extent  by  authorizing 
continuing  appropriations  to  cover  contracts  for  the  whole  of  a 
given  undertaking. 

Among  the  important  works  may  be  noted  the  canals  around 
the  falls  in  the  Mississippi  river  at  Rock  Island,  around  the 
falls  of  the  Ohio  river  at  Louisville,  and  at  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  the 
lake  and  coast  harbors,  and  the  jetties  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi. Large  sums  have  been  spent  in  trying  to  straighten 
and  deepen  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  rivers,  but  with  no 
valuable  results.  Works  on  the  lower  Mississippi  river  are 
under  the  supervision  of  a  special  commission,  consisting  of 
three  army  officers  and  four  civilians.  A  special  commission 
has  also  been  appointed  for  the  construction  of  the  ship  canal 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  across  the  isthmus  of  Panama, 
and  the  government  of  the  canal  zone. 

Independent  of  the  general  staff,  and  standing  in  direct  rela- 
tions to  the  Secretary  of  War  are  the  military  academy  at  West 
Point,  the  management  of  a  number  of  military  parks  and 
cemeteries,  and  the  machinery  of  civil  administration  in  the 
Philippine  Islands. 

The  United  States  Military  Academy,  at  West  Point,  N.  Y., 
is  the  training  school  for  officers  in  the  army.  Established  in 
1802,  the  academy  was  reorganized  and  put  on  a  firm  founda- 
tion in  1817,  the  first  results  of  the  new  system  of  training 
being  shown  in  the  Mexican  War.  For  the  last  fifty  years  its 
graduates  have  constituted  a  large  majority  of  the  officers  of 
the  regular  army  in  time  of  peace ;  but  the  officers  of  volunteer 
armies  and  new  appointments  in  the  regular  army  during  and 
after  wars  have  in  large  measure  been  appointed  from  other 
sources. 

General  supervision  of  the  academy  is  maintained  by  the 
Secretary  of  War  and  a  board  of  visitors  consisting  of  seven 
members  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  two 
by  the  president  of  the  Senate,  and  three  by  the  speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives.  The  superintendent  and  military 


148  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

instructors  are  officers  of  the  army.  Cadets  are  appointed,  one 
from  each  congressional  district,  territory  and  the  District  of 
Columbia,  two  at  large  from  each  state,  and  thirty  at  large 
from  the  United  States.  Appointments  are  made  by  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States ;  but  by  custom  all  but  the  thirty  at 
large  are  selected  by  the  members  of  Congress.  All  candidates 
are  subjected  to  a  physical  and  intellectual  examination,  which 
about  one-fourth  of  the  appointees  fail  to  pass.  The  course  of 
instruction  lasts  for  four  years,  and  is  largely  mathematical, 
scientific  and  military,  with  special  reference  to  military  engi- 
neering ;  but  includes  also  modern  languages,  history,  and  con- 
stitutional and  international  law.  The  cadets  receive  $609.50 
a  year,  and  from  this  must  maintain  themselves.  Graduates 
receive  appointments  as  second  lieutenants  in  the  army,  the 
highest  rank  men  having  the  preference  as  to  the  branch  of 
service,  and  must  serve  for  two  years,  after  which  they  may 
resign  from  the  army. 

Postgraduate  schools  of  military  instruction  for  army  officers 
are  also  maintained  now  at  certain  army  posts  throughout  the 
country.  These  include  a  school  for  engineers  at  Willett's 
Point,  N.  Y.,  a  school  for  artillery  officers  at  Fortress  Monroe, 
Va.,  a  school  for  infantry  and  cavalry  officers  at  Fort  Leaven- 
worth,  a  school  for  cavalry  and  field  artillery  officers  at  Fort 
Riley,  and  the  Army  War  College  for  the  most  advanced  in- 
struction at  Washington,  D.  C. 

Military  Parks  and  Cemeteries.— Several  of  the  most  impor- 
tant battle  fields  of  the  Civil  War  have  been  purchased  by  the 
national  government  and  are  maintained  as  public  reservations 
or  parks,  at  Chickamauga,  Gettysburg,  Shiloh,  Vicksburg  and 
Antietam.  Each  of  these  parks  is  under  the  control  of  a  board 
of  commissioners.  At  Arlington,  Va.,  is  the  national  military 
cemetery. 

CIVIL  ADMINISTRATION 

In  addition  to  its  distinctively  military  functions  and  its 
management  of  national  public  works,  the  department  of  War 
has  at  several  times  had  charge  of  the  general  administration  of 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  WAR  149 

government  in  various  districts  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States.  The  precise  nature  of  the  powers  exercised  and 
the  methods  of  administration  adopted  have  varied  under  dif- 
ferent conditions. 

(1)  In  suppressing  internal  disorder,  martial  law  has  some- 
times been  established,  this  involving  the  suspension  of  the 
writ  of  habeas  corpus,  and  the  exercise  of  judicial  powers  over 
private  citizens  by  military  tribunals. 

(2)  In  the  conduct  of  war  it  has  often  become  necessary  to 
establish  a  military  government  over  the  territory  occupied  as 
a  result  of  the  campaigns.     Thus  during  the  Mexican  War, 
such  military  governments  were  maintained,  not  only  in  the 
districts  afterwards  annexed  to  the  United  States  (California 
and  New  Mexico),  but  also  in  districts  returned  to  Mexico  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  war.     During  the  Civil  War  similar  mil- 
itary governments  were  established  in  the  southern  states ;  anc 
as  a  result  of  the  Spanish  war  they  were  also  maintained  for 
a  time  in  Cuba,  Porto  Rico  and  the  Philippine  Islands.     Such 
military   governments   are    instituted   by   the   President   as 
commander-in-chief  of  the  army  and  navy,  and  are  carried  on 
under  the  direction  of  army  officers,  who  exercise  legislative, 
judicial  and  executive  powers  restricted  by  none  of  the  lim- 
itations of  either  the  national  or  state  constitutions.     This  un- 
limited authority  is  based  on  the  existence  of  a  condition  of 
war  and  ends  with  the  conclusion  of  peace.    Foreign  territory 
temporarily  occupied  is  then  restored  to  its  former  govern- 
ment; and  territory  ceded  to  the  United  States  comes  under 
the  control  of  Congress,  although  the  military  government, 
with  restricted  powers,  may  be  provisionally  continued  until 
Congress  otherwise  directs. 

(3)  Over  territory  ceded  to  the  United  States  a  provisional 
military  government  has  usually  been  maintained  for  a  time. 
On  the  annexation  of  Florida  in  1821,  Andrew  Jackson  was 
appointed  as  military  governor  with  all  the  powers  of  the  for- 
mer Spanish  captain-general  and  continued  as  such  for  about 
a  year.     California  and  New  Mexico  remained  under  military 


150  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

government  after  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Mexico  until  the 
one  was  admitted  as  a  state  and  the  oluer  organized  as  a  terri- 
tory. And  in  Cuba,  Porto  Rico  and  the  Philippine  Islands 
military  governments  were  maintained  for  some  time  after  the 
conclusion  of  peace  with  Spain,  the  situation  in  Cuba  being 
peculiar  in  that  the  occupation  and  military  government  by 
the  United  States  were  ended  by  the  establishment  of  an  inde- 
pendent Cuban  government. 

These  military  governments  over  ceded  territory  differ  in 
some  respects  from  the  military  governments  over  territory 
occupied  during  the  progress  of  war.  On  the  one  hand,  they 
may  undertake  to  assimilate  subordinate  administrative  insti- 
tutions to  those  prevailing  in  the  United  States,  and  to  apply 
American  rules  of  law  in  place  of  those  formerly  prevailing. 
On  the  other  hand,  it  has  been  held  by  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States  that  neither  the  military  government  nor 
the  President  may  impose  customs  duties  on  goods  sent  from 
the  United  States  to  the  newly  added  territory.1 

(4)  Finally  a  distinctly  civil  administration  of  territorial 
possessions  of  the  United  States  has  in  recent  years  been  devel- 
oped under  the  supervision  of  the  department  of  War.  In 
1900,  the  President,  still  acting  as  military  commander  and 
without  authority  from  Congress  appointed  a  civil  commission 
of  five  members  to  exercise,  subject  to  the  control  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  War,  legislative  authority  in  the  Philippine  Islands, 
with  power  to  establish  judicial  courts  and  local  authorities, 
but  leaving  the  military  commanders  as  the  principal  execu- 
tive authorities.  A  year  later  (March,  1901),  Congress  en- 
acted that  all  military,  civil  and  judicial  powers  necessary  to 
govern  the  Philippine  Islands  should  be  exercised  unde  "'  e 
direction  of  the  President.  Acting  on  this  authority  the  ^  es- 
ident  established  a  civil  executive  organization,  by  appointing 

'Dooley  v.  U.  S.,  Armstrong,  v.  U.  S.,  182  U.  S.  222.  This  limitation 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  considered  as  applying  to  the  military  govern- 
ment of  Cuba,  which  was  only  temporarily  in  the  occupation  of  the  United 
States. 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  WAR 

the  chairman  of  the  commission  as  governor,  and  the  other 
four  members  as  heads  of  administrative  departments;  while 
three  Filipinos  were  added  to  the  commission  in  its  legislative 
capacity.  In  1902,  Congress  passed  an  act  on  the  government 
of  the  Philippines,  which  approved,  ratified  and  confirmed  the 
action  of  the  President. 

Besides  enacting  general  legislative  measures,  the  Philip- 
pine commission  has  organized  a  judicial  system,  central  ad- 
ministrative machinery,  and  provincial  and  municipal  institu- 
tions, the  latter  including  a  representative  element  elected  by 
the  inhabitants  of  the  various  districts.  This  machinery  of 
civil  government  is  entirely  separate  from  the  military  com- 
manders in  the  islands ;  and  although  under  the  supervision  of 
the  Secretary  of  War,  this  supervision  is  exercised  through  a 
special  bureau,  independent  of  the  general  staff  and  the  mili- 
tary bureaus. 

The  Bureau  of  Insular  Affairs  has  charge  of  matters  relating 
to  the  civil  government  of  the  insular  possessions  of  the  United 
States  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  department  of  War. 
At  present  this  applies  only  to  the  Philippine  Islands ;  but  the 
records  of  the  bureau  deal  also  with  Cuba  and  Porto  Kico 
during  the  period  in  which  they  were  under  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  department  of  War.  The  bureau  receives  all  the  civil 
records  of  the  Philippines ;  and  from  these  prepares  and  pub- 
lishes official  documents,  including  statistics  of  commerce.  It 
makes  a  comptroller's  review  of  the  receipts  and  expenditures 
of  the  Philippine  government;  purchases  supplies  and  ar- 
ranges for  the  transportation  of  supplies  and  employees  to  the 
Philippine  government.  A  law  officer  investigates  and  reports 
on  legal  questions  connected  with  civil  administration  in  the 
is  nds.  The  chief  of  the  bureau  is  an  army  officer ;  but  most 
important  questions  receive  the  personal  attention  of  the  Sec- 
retary of  War. 


CHAPTER   X 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OP  THE  NAVY 

References. — United  States  Navy  Begulations. — Senate  Report  507,  pt.  3, 
50th  Congress,  1st  session. — JOHN  D.  LONG:  The  New  American 
Navy. — J.  E.  SPEARS:  The  History  of  Our  Navy.— E.  S.  MACLAY: 
History  of  the  United  States  Navy. — CHARLES  MORRIS:  The  Nation's 
Navy. — J.  D.  J.  KELLEY:  Our  Navy,  Its  Growth  and  Achievements. 
— W.  H.  MICHAEL:  United  States  Laws  Eelating  to  the  Navy,  the 
Marine  Corps,  etc. — A.  T.  MAHAN  in  Scribner's  Magazine,  33:567. — 
Atlantic  Monthly,  80:309;  90 : 383.— North  American  Eeview, 
167:641;  178:820. — Harper's  Monthly,  24 : 159.— Eeview  of  Reviews, 
25:561. — National  Geographical  Magazine,  14:301. 

THE  MARINE  CORPS 

E.  S.  COLLUM:  History  of  the  U.  S.  Marine  Corps. — United  Service 
Magazine,  5:145. 

THE  NAVAL  ACADEMY 

PARK  BENJAMIN:  History  of  the  U.  S.  Naval  Academy. — Harper's 
Monthly,  92:201.— New  England  Magazine,  n.  s.  8:305. 

THE  NAVY 

As  early  as  October,  1775,  the  Continental  Congress  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  fit  out  vessels  to  intercept  and  capture 
British  merchant  ships;  and  during  the  Eevolutionary  War 
several  small  squadrons  were  prepared  and  sent  out,  under  the 
direction  of  various  committees  of  Congress.  There  was,  how- 
ever, no  permanent  organized  navy  and  no  ships  specially 
3milt  as  men  of  war.  Most  of  the  naval  fighting  in  behalf  of 
the  United  States  was  done  by  privateers— notably  John  Paul 
Jones— who  employed  merchant  vessels  equipped  with  guns  as 
cruisers,  and  directed  their  attention  mainly  to  attacking  Brit- 
ish merchant  vessels.  At  the  end  of  the  Revolution,  the  ships 
of  the  Confederation  navy  had  been  mostly  captured  and  de- 

152 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  NAVY        153 

stroyed;  the  three  which  remained  were  sold  and  the  navy 
abolished. 

In  the  organization  of  the  administration  under  the  consti- 
tution of  1787  the  department  of  War  was  given  jurisdiction 
over  naval  matters ;  but  nothing  was  done  in  the  way  of  naval 
construction  until  1794,  when  six  frigates  were  ordered. 
Afterwards  additional  ships  were  bought  and  built;  and  in 
1798  the  United  States  had  a  small  navy,  consisting  of  22  ships, 
456  guns  and  3,484  men.  In  this  year  the  control  of  the  navy 
was  taken  from  the  department  of  War  and  given  to  the  newly 
established  department  of  the  Navy.  During  the  next  few 
years  the  navy  saw  active  service  against  France  (1798-1801), 
and  in  the  expeditions  to  Algiers  and  Tunis  for  the  suppres- 
sion of  the  Barbary  pirates  (1801-1804).  Under  Jefferson, 
naval  construction  was  stopped,  and  the  number  of  vessels  in 
commission  was  reduced  from  twenty-five  to  seven ;  but  when 
the  conflict  with  England  and  France  over  the  rights  of  Amer- 
ican neutral  vessels  became  acute  a  large  number  of  useless 
gunboats  were  built  (1806-1812). 

When  the  War  of  1812  broke  out  the  United  States  had  six- 
teen effective  war  vessels,  the  largest  being  three  44-gun  frig- 
ates. These  rendered  a  good  account  of  themselves  in  a  series 
of  ship  duels  with  vessels  of  their  own  class,  as  did  also  ' '  Com- 
modore" Perry  with  his  improvised  fleet  on  Lake  Erie.  The 
success  of  the  navy  was  in  marked  contrast  to  the  work  of  the 
army,  although  even  at  the  end  of  the  war  the  United  States 
had  not  a  single  one  of  the  standard  three-decker  battleships 
of  the  time. 

From  1815  to  the  Civil  War  there  was  but  little  development 
in  the  navy.  A  small  number  of  ships  were  built,  and  steam- 
ers to  some  extent  replaced  sailing  vessels.  On  several  occa- 
sions this  small  navy  was  engaged  in  active  service.  It  was 
employed  in  suppressing  Mexican  pirates  (1814-1819),  against 
Malay  pirates  in  the  far  east  (1831),  in  the  Mexican  War,  in 
suppressing  the  slave  trade,  and  in  opening  Japan  (1852)  and 
€hina  (1856-59)  to  commercial  relations  with  the  western 


154  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

world.  In  1842  the  administrative  bureaus  of  the  Navy  de- 
partment were  organized  along  lines  maintained  until  the 
present  time. 

At  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War  the  navy  consisted  of 
twenty-six  steamers  and  sixteen  sailing  vessels  in  commission, 
with  twenty-seven  minor  boats  employed  at  the  navy  yards. 
The  conduct  of  the  war  led  to  an  enormous  expansion  of  the 
naval  service,  a  revolution  in  construction  and  armament,  and 
striking  developments  in  methods  of  naval  warfare.  At  the 
end  of  the  war  the  United  States  navy  consisted  of  no  less  than 
600  vessels  of  all  types.  Sailing  vessels  had  almost  entirely 
given  way  to  steamships;  where  formerly  vessels  had  been 
entirely  of  wooden  construction,  iron-clad  vessels  had  come 
into  use ;  and  the  old  smooth-bore  guns  were  being  replaced  by 
rifled  cannon.  Naval  operations  included  sea  fights  with  Con- 
federate privateers,  the  blockading  of  southern  ports,  and— 
most  notable  of  all— the  use  for  the  first  time  of  vessels  in 
attacks  on  land  fortifications,  notably  at  Vicksburg  and 
Mobile. 

After  the  war  the  navy,  like  the  army,  was  rapidly  reduced ; 
and  for  twenty  years  nothing  was  done  to  keep  pace  with  the 
rapid  developments  in  naval  construction  that  had  been  inau- 
gurated in  our  own  country.  Almost  the  only  vessels  built  for 
the  navy  in  this  period  were  some  additional  iron-clad  moni- 
tors ordered  in  1865  and  reconstructed  in  1874.  An  advisory 
naval  board,  appointed  in  1881,  reported  that  of  the  sixty-one 
unarmored  cruisers  then  on  the  navy  list,  only  thirty-two  were 
available  for  service ;  and  recommended  the  addition  of  thirty- 
eight  modern  cruisers,  as  well  as  thirty  smaller  vessels. 

Two  years  later  the  new  navy  was  begun  by  the  construction 
of  four  modern  cruisers  of  the  second  class.  Systematic  devel- 
opment was,  however,  inaugurated  by  Secretary  Whitney 
(1885-1889),  whose  policy  embraced  the  reorganization  of 
naval  administration,  the  construction  of  a  new  navy  and  the 
production  of  all  materials  for  war  ships  as  well  as  the  vessels 
themselves  within  the  United  States.  For  some  years  cruisers 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  NAVY        555 

and  minor  vessels  only  were  constructed;  but  beginning  in 
1890  first  class  battle  ships  were  ordered.  At  the  beginning 
of  1904  there  were  252  vessels  fit  for  service,  including  eleven 
battleships  and  nineteen  cruisers  of  modern  types,  besides 
coast  defense  monitors,  torpedo  boats,  gunboats  and  auxiliary 
vessels.  In  addition,  forty-five  new  ships  are  under  construc- 
tion or  authorized,  including  fourteen  first  class  battle  ships, 
ten  armored  cruisers  and  five  protected  cruisers,  which  will 
almost  double  the  effective  fighting  capacity  of  the  navy. 
Among  the  navies  of  the  world  that  of  the  United  States  is 
clearly  surpassed  only  by  those  of  Great  Britain  and  France, 
and  is  about  equal  to  that  of  Germany. 

During  the  Spanish  War  the  new  navy  was  uniformly  suc- 
cessful, notably  at  the  battles  of  Manilla  Bay  and  Santiago. 
To  its  work  was  due  in  large  measure  the  early  conclusion  of 
the  struggle. 

Each  vessel  in  the  navy  is  an  indivisible  unit  for  naval  move- 
ments; but  the  grouping  of  vessels  into  larger  commands  is 
subject  to  frequent  change.  At  present  there  is  a  North 
Atlantic  fleet,  divided  into  a  coast  squadron  and  a  Caribbean 
squadron ;  an  Asiatic  fleet,  divided  into  a  Philippine  squadron 
and  a  cruiser  squadron ;  and  also  a  Pacific  squadron,  a  South 
American  squadron  and  a  European  squadron.  "Within  each 
squadron  there  are  usually  a  number  of  divisions.  Each  ves- 
sel, division,  squadron  and  fleet  is  under  the  command,  of  a 
definite  officer. 

The  personnel  of  the  navy  consists  of  29,000  enlisted  men 
and  1,600  commissioned  officers,  besides  the  marine  corps  of 
7,000  officers  and  men.  Enlistments,  as  in  the  army,  are  vol- 
untary and  for  terms  of  four  years.  Formerly  men  were 
picked  up  at  haphazard,  and  the  crews  of  the  navy  vessels 
were  very  largely  of  foreign  birth  and  citizenship.  In  1881 
an  apprentice  school  was  established  at  Newport,  R.  I.,  and 
more  recently  another  in  San  Francisco  Bay,  where  young 
boys  are  enlisted  and  trained  for  the  service.  These  schools 
are  now  the  most  important  source  of  supply  for  enlisted  men ; 


156  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

and  under  this  system  the  proportion  of  American  citizens  in 
the  navy  crews  has  increased  to  90  per  cent.,  and  of  native- 
born  Americans  to  70  per  cent.  The  pay  of  the  enlisted  men 
ranges  from  $9  a  month,  for  the  third  grade  of  apprentices,  to 
$35  a  month;  while  petty  and  warrant  officers  (boatswains, 
gun  captains  and  machinists)  receive  up  to  $1,800  a  year. 

Officers  are  appointed,  as  in  the  army,  by  the  President  and 
Senate,  but  with  very  few  exceptions  appointments  to  positions 
in  the  line  are  made  from  graduates  of  the  naval  academy. 

When  the  Continental  Congress  first  provided  for  a  navy, 
the  principal  officer  was  given  the  vague  title  of  commander- 
in-chief ;  but  in  1776  the  English  titles  for  naval  officers  were 
adopted,  although  no  appointments  were  made  to  the  higher 
ranks.  Since  1862  the  rank  of  midshipman,  formerly  given 
to  the  lowest  officer  of  the  line,  has  been  confined  to  cadets  at 
the  naval  academy  and  graduates  while  awaiting  their  com- 
missions. The  lowest  commissioned  officers  are  now  called 
ensigns,  a  rank  corresponding  to  that  of  the  second  lieutenants 
in  the  army.  Next  in  order  are  the  lieutenants  (junior  grade) 
and  lieutenants,  the  latter  ranking  with  an  army  captain,  and 
usually  acting  as  an  officer  of  the  watch,  navigating  officer  or 
in  command  of  minor  vessels.  Above  these  stand  the  lieuten- 
ant-commanders (a  rank  established  in  1862),  commanders 
(established  1838),  and  captains,  the  last  named— correspond- 
ing in  rank  and  salary  to  army  colonels— having  charge  of  the 
large  cruisers  and  battle  ships. 

Up  to  1862  the  highest  official  naval  rank  in  the  United 
States  was  that  of  captain,  except  for  the  designation  of  a 
senior  flag  officer  in  1859 ;  although  the  title  commodore  was 
popularly  given  to  officers  in  command  of  a  squadron.  An 
act  of  1862  reorganizing  the  naval  personnel  established  the 
minor  official  ranks  of  ensign  and  lieutenant-commander,  and 
also  the  higher  ranks  of  commodore  and  rear-admiral  for  offi- 
cers in  command  of  a  division,  squadron  or  fleet.  In  1864 
Farragut  was  commissioned  as  vice-admiral,  and  in  1866  as 
admiral.  He  was  succeeded  in  both  ranks  by  Porter;  but 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  NAVY         157 

after  him  the  titles  again  lapsed  until  1899,  when  Dewey  was 
made  admiral.  There  are  now  twenty-seven  rear-admirals, 
but  no  vice-admiral,  and  the  rank  of  commodore  has  also  been 
abolished,  except  for  its  survival  on  the  retired  list. 

Officers'  salaries  are  about  on  the  same  scale  as  in  the  army: 
from  $1,400  a  year  for  ensigns  to  $7,500  a  year  for  the  first 
nine  rear-admirals;  but  these  amounts  are  reduced  when  the 
officers  are  on  shore  duty.  The  admiral  receives  $13,500  a 
year. 

Engineer  officers  in  the  navy  have  until  recently  occupied  a 
peculiar  position.  They  were  first  appointed  with  the  intro- 
duction of  steam  vessels  in  1836 ;  and  in  1842  a  special  corps 
of  engineers  was  established.  As,  however,  the  engineers  had 
no  training  in  navigation  or  naval  warfare,  they  were  not  con- 
sidered on  an  equal  footing  with  officers  of  the  line.  As  those 
officers  became  of  more  and  more  importance  with  modern 
developments  in  naval  affairs,  their  dissatisfaction  with  their 
subordinate  position  steadily  increased,  especially  on  account 
of  the  contrast  with  the  position  of  engineer  officers  in  the 
army. 

With  the  object  of  overcoming  these  difficulties  an  act  was 
passed  in  1899  to  grant  the  officers  of  the  corps  of  engineers 
commissions  in  the  line ;  and  providing  that,  on  passing  exam- 
inations in  navigation,  engineer  officers  might  be  asisgned  to 
positions  as  commanding  officers,  while  line  officers  by  quali- 
fying in  engineering  could  be  assigned  to  engineering  posts. 
Future  officers  are  to  be  trained  in  both  branches  of  the  service, 
and  transferred  from  one  to  the  other  as  may  be  convenient. 
Under  this  act  some  former  engineer  officers  have  been  trans- 
ferred to  navigation  positions;  but  there  has  been  no  corre- 
sponding transfer  from  the  line  to  the  engine  room. 

Naval  constructors,  civil  engineers,  paymasters,  surgeons 
and  chaplains  in  the  navy  are  appointed  from  outside  of  the 
graduates  of  the  naval  academy;  but  are  assigned  rank  as 
naval  officers  of  different  grades. 

The  Marine  Corps  is  not  in  the  strictest  sense  a  branch  of  the 


158  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTBATION 

naval  service,  but  a  force  of  soldiers,  organized  apart  from  the 
regular  army  for  service  supplementary  to  naval  movements. 
It  was  established  by  the  Continental  Congress  in  1775.  The 
men  are  enlisted  and  organized  in  much  the  same  way  as  in  the 
army;  but  the  officers  are  appointed  mainly  from  the  gradu- 
ates of  the  naval  academy,  the  chief  officer  now  holding  the 
rank  of  major-general.  Detachments  are  assigned  to  the  ships 
of  the  navy,  where  they  perform  guard  and  police  duties  and 
act  as  sharpshooters  in  active  service.  On  shore  they  do  guard 
duty  at  the  navy  yards;  and  carry  out  small  military  opera- 
tions, sometimes  preliminary  to  a  larger  movement  by  the 
army.  The  corps  has  its  own  administrative  service  in  three 
branches:  adjutants  and  inspectors,  quartermasters  and  pay- 
masters. 

ADMINISTRATIVE  BUREAUS 

As  in  the  case  of  the  army,  the  administrative  services  con- 
nected with  the  navy  are  under  the  general  supervision  of  the 
secretary  of  the  department  and  an  assistant  secretary  (the 
latter  established  in  1890),  both  chosen  from  civil  life  and 
serving  in  office  for  a  brief  period.  Under  their  direction  are 
a  series  of  bureaus,  which,  differing  from  the  present  arrange- 
ment in  the  department  of  War,  are  independent  of  each  other 
and  not  organized  under  a  general  staff.  There  has  been  some 
discussion  in  reference  to  establishing  a  general  staff  for  the 
navy;  but  as  yet  no  permanent  machinery  of  this  kind  has 
been  established.  During  the  Spanish  War  a  board  of  strat- 
egy was  temporarily  formed  to  give  military  advice  upon  the 
strategic  movements  of  the  fleet.  And  more  recently  there  has 
been  established  a  general  board,  with  the  admiral  of  the  navy 
at  its  head,  to  discuss  the  larger  questions  of  policy  connected 
with  offensive  or  defensive  measures  in  case  of  war  with  dif- 
ferent countries.  There  is  also  a  board  of  inspection  and 
survey,  composed  of  naval  officers,  which  is  not  attached  to 
any  of  the  more  elaborately  organized  bureaus. 

The  principal  bureaus  may  best  be  considered  in  the  order 
in  which  they  act  in  preparing  a  ship  of  war  for  active  service : 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  NAVY        159 

yards  and  docks,  construction  and  repair,  steam  engineering, 
ordnance,  equipment,  supplies  and  accounts,  medicine  and  sur- 
gery, and  navigation.  Most  of  these  are  in  charge  of  a  line 
officer  of  the  navy,  usually  a  rear-admiral;  and  other  naval 
officers  are  assigned  to  bureau  duties,  this  service  alternating 
with  service  at  sea.  But  officers  in  the  bureaus  of  construc- 
tion, supplies  and  medicine,  although  ranking  as  naval  officers, 
are  appointed  from  outside  sources  and  permanently  attached 
to  their  special  branch  of  the  service.  All  of  these  bureaus,  it 
may  be  noted,  have  representatives  on  each  vessel  of  the  navy, 
except  that  of  yards  and  docks. 

Other  officers  and  institutions  connected  with  the  depart- 
ment of  the  navy  are :  the  judge  advocate-general,  the  marine 
corps,  the  naval  academy  and  schools  for  the  training  of  offi- 
cers and  enlisted  men. 

The  Bureau  of  Yards  and  Docks  has  control  of  the  general 
administration  of  the  navy  yards* and  government  docks,  in- 
cluding the  purchase  of  land,  and  the  construction  and  main- 
tenance of  docks,  buildings  and  apparatus.  There  are  navy 
yards  at  Washington,  D.  C.,  Boston,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  League 
Island,  Pa.,  Norfolk,  Va.,  Pensacola,  Fla.,  Mare  Island,  Cal., 
Cavite  in  the  Philippine  Islands,  and  other  places  throughout 
the  country.  At  these  yards  there  is  some  ship-building  and 
ordnance  manufacture  done ;  all  vessels  receive  their  finishing 
equipment,  supplies  and  crews ;  and  most  of  the  repair  work  is 
performed.  Each  yard  has  a  local  branch  and  local  repre- 
sentatives of  the  various  bureaus  of  the  navy  department  with 
a  naval  officer  in  general  charge. 

The  Bureau  of  Construction  and  Repair  is  responsible  tor 
the  hulls  and  permanent  fixtures  of  the  ships  of  the  navy.  In 
consultation  with  the  bureau  of  ordnance  it  designs  plans  for 
vessels;  it  has  charge  of  construction  and  repair  work  in  the 
navy  yards,  and  supervision  over  construction  of  ships  by 
contract.  Besides  the  ordinary  questions  of  marine  architec- 
ture involved  in  the  construction  of  hulls,  spars,  steering  gear 
and  ventilating  apparatus,  it  deals  with  many  special  features 


160  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTBATION 

peculiar  to  war  vessels,  such  as  armor,  gun  turrets,  ammuni- 
tion hoists  and  other  accessories  of  the  armament. 

The  Bureau  of  Steam  Engineering  deals  with  the  steam  ma- 
chinery for  the  navy,  including  not  only  engines  for  propelling 
the  vessels,  but  also  steam  pumps,  steam  heaters  and  machinery 
for  moving  the  gun  turrets.  It  makes  designs  for  sucti  ma- 
chinery, supervises  its  construction  and  installation,  and  has 
charge  of  its  operation. 

The  Bureau  of  Ordnance  has  control  of  the  armament  and 
ammunition  for  the  navy.  It  cooperates  with  the  bureau  of 
construction  and  repair  in  determining  questions  as  to  the 
armor  of  vessels,  gun  turrets  and  ammunition  hoists.  It  de- 
signs and  supervises  the  manufacture  of  guns,  torpedoes  and 
other  armament ;  and  installs  the  armament  and  all  accessories 
not  permanently  attached  to  the  hulls.  It  has  charge  of  the 
torpedo  station,  the  naval  proving  ground,  powder  magazines 
on  shore,  and  the  gun  factory  at  the  Washington  navy  yard. 

The  Bureau  of  Equipment  has  charge  of  what  may  be  called 
the  furnishings  of  the  ships.  This  includes  the  installation  of 
electric  motors  and  lighting  systems ;  a  great  variety  of  port- 
able apparatus,  such  as  rigging,  sails,  ropes,  anchors,  lamps, 
compasses  and  other  navigating  instruemnts;  also  charts,  log 
books  and  other  nautical  publications;  and  the  supply  of 
illuminating  oil  and  fuel.  Under  this  bureau  are  the  hydro- 
graphic  office,  in  charge  of  deep  sea  surveys  and  the  publica- 
tion of  charts,  the  naval  observatory  and  the  publication  of  the 
nautical  almanac.  The  publications  of  these  offices  are  of 
great  service  not  only  to  the  navy,  but  also  to  the  mercantile 
marine. 

The  Bureau  of  Supplies  and  Accounts  deals  with  the  supply 
of  provisions,  clothing,  and  small  stores,  and  the  payment  of 
salaries,  wages  and  the  accounts  for  stores  purchased  by  other 
bureaus.  Its  chief  officer  is  the  paymaster-general;  and  the 
paymaster  of  each  ship  in  commission  is  its  representative. 

The  Bureau  of  Medicine  and  Surgery  has  charge  of  the  naval 
hospitals  and  the  medical  corps  of  the  navy.  The  chief  officer 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  NAVY  161 

is  the  surgeon-general.  Surgeons  in  the  medical  corps  are 
appointed  from  civil  life  and  given  rank  as  naval  officers. 
They  are  graded  as  assistant  surgeons,  passed  assistant  sur- 
geons, surgeons,  medical  inspectors  and  medical  directors. 

The  Bureau  of  Navigation  has  charge  of  the  personnel  of  the 
navy ;  and  in  the  absence  of  a  general  staff  tends  to  become  of 
much  the  same  importance  in  advising  the  military  orders  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  as  was  the  adjutant-general  in  the 
army  before  the  recent  reorganization.  It  must  be  distin- 
guished from  the  bureau  of  the  same  name  in  the  department 
of  Commerce  and  Labor,  which  exercises  supervision  over  the 
mercantile  marine  but  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  navy.  This 
bureau  has  charge  of  the  recruiting  service  and  supervision 
over  the  training  of  officers  and  men,  including  the  naval  acad- 
emy, technical  schools  for  officers  and  enlisted  men,  and  the 
apprentice  schools.  It  establishes  the  complement  of  the  crews 
of  all  vessels  in  commission;  and  prepares  naval  regulations 
and  books  on  drill  and  tactics.  It  issues,  and  often  advises,  the 
orders  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  in  reference  to  the  move- 
ment of  vessels  and  squadrons.  And  it  keeps  the  records  of 
service  of  all  squadrons,  ships,  officers  and  men. 

Auxiliary  to  the  bureau  of  navigation  are  some  minor  boards 
and  offices.  In  connection  with  the  examinations  for  the  pro- 
motion and  retirement  of  officers  there  is  a  naval  examining 
board  of  line  officers,  a  naval  retiring  board  of  line  officers  and 
medical  directors,  and  a  board  of  medical  examiners.  The 
office  of  naval  intelligence  collects  information  as  to  naval 
progress  in  foreign  countries,  including  developments  both  in 
naval  construction  and  in  the  art  of  naval  warfare.  The  office 
of  naval  war  records  preserves  the  records  of  the  navy  per- 
sonnel and  has  charge  of  the  library  of  the  department.  It 
is  also  publishing  the  official  records  of  the  United  States  and 
Confederate  navies  in  the  War  of  the  Rebellion. 

The  Judge  Advocate-General  of  the  navy  performs  similar 
duties  to  the  same  officer  in  the  army,  with  some  others  peculiar 
to  the  navy  office.  He  has  to  do  with  courts-martial  and 
11 


162  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

courts  of  inquiry,  in  some  cases  ordering  these  courts  and  pre- 
paring charges  and  specifications,  and  in  all  cases  reviewing 
and  reporting  on  the  proceedings.  Judge  advocates  are  desig- 
nated as  prosecuting  officers  and  legal  advisers  in  such  mili- 
tary trials.  The  judge.advocate-general  also  orders  the  exam- 
inations of  candidates  for  appointment  to  the  medical  corps; 
and  orders  and  reviews  the  examinations  of  naval  officers  for 
promotion  and  retirement.  He  is  further  the  legal  adviser  of 
the  department  and  as  such  is  called  on  for  opinions  in  refer- 
ence to  the  construction  of  statutes,  regulations,  and  the 
powers  of  officials,  these  opinions  forming  an  important  body 
of  administrative  law.  As  legal  adviser,  too,  he  has  important 
duties  in  connection  with  the  construction  of  navy  vessels 
under  contract;  preparing  advertisements  for  bids,  forms  of 
proposals,  forms  of  contracts  and  bonds;  and  this  involves  a 
great  deal  of  departmental  correspondence  in  reference  to  the 
plans  and  specifications  and  proposed  changes.  He  also  con- 
ducts correspondence  with  the  department  of  Justice  in  refer- 
ence to  cases  before  the  courts  affecting  the  department  of  the 
Navy. 

The  United  States  Naval  Academy,  at  Annapolis,  Md., 
was  founded  in  1845,  without  specific  authority  from  Congress, 
by  Secretary  of  the  Navy  George  Bancroft.  Efforts  to  estab- 
lish a  school  for  the  navy  similar  to  the  military  academy  had 
been  made  since  the  War  of  1812 ;  and  after  the  institution  was 
organized  it  was  recognized  and  supported  by  Congress.  Dur- 
ing the  Civil  War  the  naval  academy  was  removed  to  Newport, 
R.  I.,  but  returned  to  Annapolis  at  the  close  of  hostilities. 

A  board  of  visitors  is  appointed  as  for  the  military  academy. 
A  naval  officer  not  below  the  rank  of  captain  is  assigned  as 
superintendent  of  the  naval  academy,  and  other  naval  officers 
as  instructors  in  various  subjects,  with  some  appointments  as 
instructors  from  outside  of  the  navy.  The  course  at  the  acad- 
emy continues  for  four  years,  and  includes  instruction  in  naval 
construction,  ordnance  and  gunnery,  steam  engineering,  sea- 
manship, navigation,  and  naval  tactics,  besides  introductory 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  NAVY        163 

work  in  mathematics  and  physical  sciences,  and  courses  in 
modern  languages  and  constitutional  and  international  law. 

Appointments  as  naval  cadets  or  midshipmen  are  made  by 
the  President  from  congressional  districts,  states  and  terri- 
tories, with  some  at  large,  the  local  appointments  being  usually 
selected  by  the  members  of  Congress.  In  order  to  keep  pace 
with  the  rapid  development  in  the  number  of  ships  in  the 
navy,  it  has  been  provided  that  until  1913  two  midshipmen 
should  be  appointed  for  each  member  or  delegate  in  Congress 
and  five  at  large  each  year. 

After  the  course  at  the  academy,  midshipmen  complete  their 
preparations  by  a  two  years'  course  at  sea,  after  which  they 
receive  appointments  as  line  or  engineer  officers.  Most  of  the 
naval  officers,  except  those  in  the  medical  corps,  are  graduates 
of  the  naval  academy ;  and  this  tradition  of  common  education 
and  the  personal  acquaintance  resulting  from  the  transfers 
from  one  ship  to  another  has  developed  a  much  stronger  esprit 
de  corps  than  in  the  army,  where  many  of  the  officers  have 
entered  the  service  through  the  volunteer  armies. 

A  Naval  War  College  for  postgraduate  study  of  problems  in 
naval  strategy  and  tactics  has  been  maintained  at  Newport, 
R.  I.,  since  1885.  About  twenty-five  officers  are  assigned  for 
this  purpose  every  year.  At  the  same  place  is  a  torpedo  sta- 
tion, where  instruction  in  the  construction  and  use  of  tor- 
pedoes is  given. 

Many  of  the  rules  and  customs  of  international  law  apply 
specifically  to  naval  administration;  and  a  few  of  the  most 
important  may  be  noted  here.  Navy  vessels  frequently  eater 
the  ports  of  foreign  powers  in  time  of  peace ;  but  they  are  con- 
sidered as  exempted  by  the  consent  of  such  powers  from  their 
jurisdiction,  and  as  remaining  under  the  exclusive  jurisdiction 
of  the  home  government  exercised  by  the  officers  of  the  ship 
itself.1  When,  however,  officers  and  crew  go  ashore  ia  a  for- 
eign country  they  cannot  claim  diplomatic  privileges,  but 
come  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  foreign  country. 

1 7  Cranch,  U.  S.  116. 


164  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTKATION 

Naval  warfare  differs  from  warfare  on  land  in  that  the  seiz- 
ure of  private  property  without  compensation  is  still  per- 
mitted. This  applies  not  only  to  contraband  goods,  but  also  to 
vessels  caught  running  a  blockade,  vessels  carrying  contraband 
goods,  and  vessels  and  their  contents  owned  by  a  citizen  of  the 
enemy  country.  All  captured  vessels  are  sent  to  a  convenient 
port  for  a  trial  before  a  prize  court  as  to  whether  it  is  a  lawful 
prize.  If  condemned  as  a  prize,  the  vessel  is  sold,  or  may  be 
taken  by  the  government  at  an  appraised  value ;  and  the  pro- 
ceeds are  shared  by  the  captors  as  prize  money.  If  the  prize 
was  of  superior  or  equal  strength  to  the  capturing  force,  all  the 
net  proceeds  goes  to  the  officers  and  crews.  If  the  prize  was 
of  inferior  force,  one-half  of  the  net  proceeds  goes  to  the 
United  States;  and  income  from  this  source  is  now  used  as  a 
fund  for  naval  pensions.  The  prize  money  assigned  to  the 
capturing  vessel  or  vessels  is  distributed  according  to  statute, 
the  commanding  officers  getting  large  fractions,  and  the  re- 
mainder being  divided  among  the  other  officers  and  enlisted 
men  in  proportion  to  their  service  pay. 

A  small  amount  of  civil  administration  is  exercised  by  the 
department  of  the  Navy  in  the  islands  of  Tutuila  (in  the 
Samoan  group)  and  Guam.  Congress  has  made  no  provision 
for  government  in  these  islands  since  their  acquisition  by  the 
United  States;  and  they  remain  under  the  command  of  naval 
officers,  who  may  be  said  to  be  exercising  a  temporary  military 
government. 


CHAPTER   XI 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OP  JUSTICE 

References. — J.  S.  EASBY- SMITH:  The  Department  of  Justice. — Opinions 
of  the  Attorney-General  of  the  United  States. — American  and 
English  Encyclopedia  of  Law,  I,  974;  V,  713. — Cyclopedia  of  Law 
and  Procedure,  IV,  11024. — American  Law  Segister,  5:65. — Law 
Beporter,  13:373;  Copp's  Land  Owner,  3:54,  57. — American  Law 
Beview,  21:779. 

THE  department  of  Justice  has  been  developed  from  the 
English  office  of  attorney-general,  with  important  features 
added  in  the  course  of  American  experience.  As  early  as  the 
reign  of  Edward  I,  almost  contemporaneous  with  the  appear- 
ance of  a  special  legal  profession  in  England,  we  find  Crown 
attorneys  (Attornati  Regis)  employed  for  guarding  the  royal 
privileges  in  the  courts.  By  the  time  of  Edward  IV  the  offi- 
cial title  of  attorney-general  appears  for  the  first  time.  A 
little  later,  as  the  distinction  between  barristers  and  solicitors 
became  established,  the  Crown  lawyers  are  distinguished  as  the 
King's  attorney  and  the  King's  solicitor.1 

These  law  officers  acted  as  the  legal  advisers  of  the  King  and 
his  ministers,  and  also  conducted  public  prosecutions  in  impor- 
tant criminal  cases.  But  there  was  not  developed,  and  has 
not  yet  developed,  in  England  any  system  of  local  public  pros- 
ecutors. Nor  has  the  English  attorney-general  become  one  of 
the  leading  political  officials  with  a  seat  in  the  cabinet,  since 
political  and  administrative  functions,  which  have  become 
attached  to  the  office  in  this  country  are  there  performed  by 
the  lord  chancellor  and  other  officials.2 

Most  of  the  colonies  had  attorneys-general ;  and  these  officers 

1  Gneist,  History  of  the  English  Constitution,  ch.  22. 

2  Anson,  Law  and  Custom  of  the  Constitution,  II,  201. 

165 


166  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTBATION 

were  continued  under  the  state  governments.  In  the  national 
government  the  office  of  Attorney-General  was  provided  for  in 
the  Judiciary  Act  of  1789.  For  a  good  many  years  the  work 
of  the  office  did  not  require  the  entire  time  of  the  Attorney- 
General  and  he  was  permitted,  if  not  expected,  to  continue  in 
private  practice.  The  salary  was  only  $1,500  a  year,  less  than 
that  of  the  other  cabinet  secretaries;  and  not  until  1814  was 
he  required  to  reside  in  Washington.  From  the  first  the 
Attorney-General  was  a  member  of  the  President's  Cabinet; 
but  his  office  was  not  formally  recognized  as  an  executive 
department  until  in  1870  the  department  of  Justice  was  estab- 
lished. 

The  functions  of  the  Attorney-General  and  the  department 
of  Justice  may  be  considered  in  four  main  divisions:  (1)  as 
legal  adviser  to  the  President  and  the  executive  departments ; 
(2)  as  attorney  for  the  United  States  before  the  courts,  either 
as  prosecutor  or  defendant;  (3)  administrative  supervision 
over  officers  of  United  States  courts  and  over  United  States 
penal  and  reformatory  institutions;  and  (4)  as  adviser  to  the 
President  in  the  exercise  of  his  pardoning  power. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  Attorney-General  to  give  his  advice  and 
opinion  upon  questions  of  law  when  required  by  the  President 
or  by  the  heads  of  departments  on  any  matter  concerning  then- 
departments.  Questions  not  involving  the  construction  of  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States  may  be  referred  to  subordi- 
nates; and  their  opinions  when  approved  by  the  Attorney- 
General  have  the  same  force  and  effect  as  the  opinions  of  the 
Attorney-General  himself.  Officers  in  the  department  of  Jus- 
tice must  give  opinions  and  render  legal  services  to  the  Presi- 
dent or  officers  of  other  departments. 

In  the  discharge  of  these  duties  the  action  of  the  Attorney- 
General  is  quasi- judicial.  "His  opinions  officially  define  the 
law,  in  a  multitude  of  cases,  where  his  decision  is  in  practice 
final  and  conclusive— not  only  as  respects  the  action  of  public 
officers  in  administrative  matters,  who  are  thus  relieved  from 
the  responsibility  which  would  otherwise  attach  to  their  acts, — 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  JUSTICE  167 

but  also  in  questions  of  private  rights,  inasmuch  as  parties 
having  concerns  with  the  government  possess  in  general  no 
means  of  bringing  a  controverted  matter  before  the  courts  of 
law,  and  can  obtain  a  purely  legal  decision  of  the  controversy, 
as  distinguished  from  an  administrative  one,  only  by  reference 
to  the  Attorney-General.  Accordingly,  the  opinions  of  suc- 
cessive Attorneys-General  .  .  .  have  come  to  constitute  a  body 
of  legal  precedents  and  exposition,  having  authority  the  same 
in  kind,  if  not  the  same  in  degree,  with  decisions  of  the  courts 
of  justice."1  "The  Supreme  Court  will  not  entertain  an  ap- 
peal from  his  decision,  nor  revise  his  judgment  in  any  case 
where  the  law  authorized  him  to  exercise  his  discretion  or 
judgment."2 

But  the  Attorney-General  is  under  no  obligation  to  render 
an  award,  or  determine  a  question  of  fact  in  cases  referred  to 
him ;  nor  does  an  appeal  to  him  lie  from  another  department  by 
any  party  assuming  to  be  aggrieved  by  its  action,  and  seeking 
to  have  it  reviewed ;  nor  is  he  to  give  advice  to  heads  of  depart- 
ments on  matters  which  do  not  concern  their  departments,  and 
in  which  the  United  States  have  no  interest ;  nor  is  he  author- 
ized to  give  official  opinions  not  falling  within  the  scope  of  his 
duties,  so  as  to  connect  the  government  with  individual  contro- 
versies, in  which  it  has  no  concern ;  nor  is  he  in  general  to  give 
official  opinions  to  subordinate  officers  of  the  government ;  nor 
in  cases  not  actually  presented  for  action  by  an  executive 
department.8  He  will  not  answer  abstract  or  hypothetical 
questions  of  law  ;4  nor  purely  judicial  questions  in  controversy 
before  the  courts  ;5  nor  construe  department  regulations.  He 
may,  like  the  heads  of  other  departments,  be  required  to  fur- 
nish information  to  Congress;  but  he  does  not  furnish  legal 
opinions  to  Congress,  or  its  committees.6 

1  6  Opinions  Attorney-General,  326 ;  American  Law  Register,  5 : 72. 

1 6  ibid.,  346. 

'6  ibid.,  333;  10  ibid.,  50,  458;  11  ibid.,  189,  431. 

«  13  ibid.,  568. 

•  20  ibid.,  539;  23  ibid.,  221,  558. 

«  14  ibid.,  17, 177;  15  ibid.,  138,  475;  18  ibid.,  87, 107. 


168  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

More  specifically,  it  is  the  duty  of  the  Attorney-General  and 
his  assistants  to  examine  all  titles  to  land  or  sites  purchased  by 
the  United  States  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  public  buildings ; 
and  no  money  can  be  expended  for  land  until  the  title  has  been 
approved. 

As  chief  advocate  for  the  government,  the  Attorney-General 
has  supervision  over  all  actions  at  law  or  suits  in  equity  to 
which  the  United  States  is  a  party  or  in  which  the  United 
States  has  an  interest.  Suits  begun  by  the  government  are 
brought  before  a  district,  circuit  or  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States  under  the  provisions  of  the  statutes  regulating 
the  jurisdiction  of  these  courts.  Criminal  cases  include  only 
crimes  in  violation  of  the  statutes  of  the  national  government. 
The  largest  number  of  prosecutions  are  for  violations  of  the 
internal  revenue  laws ;  a  considerable  number  are  for  violation 
of  postal  laws,  customs  laws  and  pension  laws ;  while  a  great 
variety  of  other  statutes  are  involved  in  other  cases.  Civil 
suits  are  brought  most  largely  in  connection  with  customs  and 
internal  revenue  administration;  but  all  of  the  departments 
are  involved  in  some  cases.  Besides  cases  in  which  the  United 
States  is  itself  a  party,  it  has  been  held  that  in  a  suit  between 
states  where  the  United  States  has  an  interest,  the  Attorney- 
General  may  appear  and  introduce  evidence  and  argument 
without  making  the  United  States  a  party  for  or  against  whom 
judgment  may  be  rendered.1 

Following  the  rule  of  English  law,  suits  against  the  United 
States  government  are  not  allowed  as  a  matter  of  right.2  But 
provision  has  been  made  for  trying  some  kinds  of  claims 
against  the  government  by  the  creation  of  a  court  of  claims 
and  a  court  of  private  land  claims;8  while  claims  for  small 
amounts  may  be  brought  before  the  district  and  circuit  courts 
of  the  United  States,  and  claims  under  treaty  stipulations  are 

1 17  Howard,  U.  S.  478. 

1  Not  even  the  Attorney-General  can  waive  the  exemption  of  the  United 
States  from  judicial  process  or  submit  United  States  property  to  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  court  in  a  suit  against  its  officers.  162  U.  S.  255. 

3  The  latter  was  abolished  in  1904. 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  JUSTICE  169 

investigated  by  special  commissions.  In  all  these  cases  the 
officers  of  the  department  of  Justice  act  as  attorneys  for  the 
defense  on  the  part  of  the  government. 

According  to  the  statutes,  the  Attorney-General  is  to  conduct 
and  argue  cases  before  the  Supreme  Court  and  the  Court  of 
Claims,  except  where  other  provision  is  made  for  particular 
cases.  In  fact,  cases  in  the  Court  of  Claims  are  now  placed  in 
the  hands  of  one  of  the  assistant  attorneys-general;  and  even 
before  the  Supreme  Court  many  cases  are  conducted  without 
the  personal  appearance  of  the  Attorney-General.  In  the  sub- 
ordinate courts  the  Attorney-General  very  seldom  appears  in 
person. 

In  the  countries  of  continental  Europe  the  minister  of  jus- 
tice appoints,  or  at  least  selects,  the  judges;  and  exercises 
through  his  department  a  large  administrative  control  over  the 
judiciary.  Even  in  England,  the  lord  chancellor  selects  most 
of  the  judges  and  has  disciplinary  powers  over  the  judges  in 
the  lower  courts,  as  well  as  some  minor  supervision  over  the 
higher  courts.  Compared  to  the  practice  of  foreign  countries, 
the  powers  of  the  Attorney-General  over  the  judicial  adminis- 
tration are  very  limited.  He  has  no  power  of  appointing 
judges;  and  while  he  may  be  consulted  by  the  President  in 
reference  to  a  judicial  appointment,  there  is  no  established 
custom  of  asking  his  advice,  still  less  of  accepting  his  recom- 
mendations. And  the  position  of  the  judiciary  as  an  inde- 
pendent branch  of  the  government,  coordinate  with  the  legis- 
lative and  the  executive,  prevents  any  control  over  their  judi- 
cial acts.  Nevertheless,  the  Attorney-General  has  some  powers 
of  administrative  supervision  over  the  executive  officers  of  the 
courts,  similar  to  those  of  a  European  minister  of  justice, 
which  serve  to  make  his  position  of  more  importance  in  the 
national  administration  than  that  of  the  attorneys-general  in 
the  states. 

Commissions  to  judges  and  other  officers  of  the  United  States 
courts  are  now  made  out  and  recorded  in  the  department  of 


170  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

Justice.1  The  Attorney- General  has  general  superintendence 
over  the  district  attorneys  and  marshals  of  the  United  States 
and  territorial  courts,  who  must  submit  reports  of  their  official 
proceedings;  and  supervision  over  the  accounts  of  district 
attorneys,  marshals  and  clerks,  and  over  expenditure  for  sup- 
plies for  the  United  States  courts.2 

In  addition  to  this  supervision  over  the  executive  officers  of 
the  United  States  courts,  the  Attorney-General  has  general 
direction  over  United  States  prisoners  and  the  penal  and  re- 
formatory institutions  of  the  United  States.  These  include 
national  penitentiaries  at  Leavenworth,  Kans.,  and  Atlanta, 
Ga.,  and  the  jail  and  two  reform  schools  in  the  District  of 
Columbia.  Many  prisoners  convicted  in  the  national  courts 
are  sentenced  to  these  reform  schools  and  also  to  the  state  penal 
and  reformatory  institutions. 

As  the  power  to  pardon  is  specifically  conferred  on  the  Pres- 
ident by  the  constitution,  it  is  not  possible  to  delegate  this 
power  to  any  subordinate  officer  or  department.  But  in  prac- 
tice petitions  for  pardon  (except  in  army  and  navy  cases)  are 
referred  to  the  department  of  Justice  for  investigation;  and 
the  President  usually  acts  in  accordance  with  the  recommend- 
ation of  the  Attorney-General. 

Next  to  the  department  of  State,  the  department  of  Justice 
has  the  smallest  staff  of  any  of  the  executive  departments. 
The  whole  number  of  persons  in  the  offices  at  Washington  is 
now  about  250.  On  the  other  hand,  on  account  of  the  large 
number  of  attorneys  employed,  the  average  salary  in  the  de- 
partment of  Justice  is  higher  than  in  any  other  department. 

After  the  Attorney-General  himself,  the  most  important  offi- 
cial is  the  solicitor-general,  who  assists  the  Attorney-General  in 
the  performance  of  his  general  duties,  and  in  his  absence  or  in 
case  of  vacancy  exercises  all  the  duties  of  the  Attorney-Gen- 
ral.  The  solicitor-general  ordinarily  acts  mainly  in  connection 
with  suits  before  the  courts.  He  cooperates  with  the  Attorney- 

1  Act  of  August  8,  1888,  c.  786. 

8  Revised  Statutes,  §§  362,  368 ;  Act  of  March  3,  1899. 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  JUSTICE 

General  in  cases  before  the  Supreme  Court  and  the  Court  of 
Claims;  but  may  also  be  directed  to  conduct  cases  where  the 
United  States  has  an  interest  in  the  lower  courts  of  the  United 
States  or  in  any  state  court. 

Other  important  law  officers  are :  the  assistant  to  the  Attor- 
ney-General, the  assistant  attorneys-general  and  the  solicitors 
for  various  executive  departments.  There  are  six  assistant 
attorneys-general  with  general  duties.  These  assist  in  the 
preparation  and  argument  of  cases  before  the  Supreme  Court 
and  in  the  preparation  of  legal  opinions ;  one  is  charged  with 
the  conduct  of  the  defense  of  the  United  States  in  the  Court  of 
Claims;  one  with  the  defense  of  Indian  depredation  claims; 
one  with  the  defense  of  claims  before  the  Spanish  treaty  claims 
commission ;  and  one  with  matters  relating  to  insular  and  terri- 
torial affairs,  and  with  the  defense  of  French  spoliation  claims. 
Special  assistants  to  the  Attorney-General  are  also  engaged 
from  time  to  time,  for  particular  purposes,  as  in  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  anti-trust  laws. 

Other  assistant  attorneys-general  and  solicitors  deal  with 
cases  and  legal  questions  affecting  particular  executive  depart- 
ments. Since  1870  these  law  officers  for  the  other  departments 
exercise  their  functions  under  the  supervision  and  control  of 
the  Attorney-  General.. 

The  solicitor  for  the  department  of  State  gives  advice  upon 
questions  of  municipal  and  international  law  referred  to  him ; 
and  passes  upon  claims  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  against 
foreign  governments  and  claims_of  citizens  of  subjects  or  citi- 
zens of  foreign  governments  against  the  United  States,  and 
upon  applications  for  the  extradition  of  criminals. 

The  solicitor  of  the  Treasury  deals  with  law  matters  affecting 
all  the  bureaus  of  the  department 7>f  the  Treasury  except  those 
under  the  internal  revenue  laws.  He  has  cognizance  of  frauds 
on  the  customs  revenue  and  the  collection  of  moneys  due  the 
United  States ;  he  must  approve  the  bonds  of  treasury  officials ; 
and  he  has  supervision  over  suits  brought  under  the  national 
banking  law. 


172  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

The  solicitor  of  internal  revenue  is  the  law  officer  and  legal 
adviser  of  the  commissioner  of  internal  revenue. 

The  assistant  attorney-general  for  the  Post-Office  department 
gives  legal  opinions  on  questions  relating  to  the  work  of  the 
department.  He  considers  claims  from  postmasters  for  loss 
caused  by  fire,  burglary  or  other  casualty ;  all  cases  of  alleged 
violation  of  the  fraud  and  lottery  laws;  and  applications  for 
pardons  for  crimes  against  the  postal  laws. 

The  assistant  attorney-general  for  the  department  of  the 
Interior  gives  legal  advice  to  the  secretary  of  the  department 
on  appeals  from  the  land  office  and  on  other  legal  questions 
arising  in  the  administration  of  the  department. 

All  of  these  officers  are  assisted  by  assistant  attorneys,  law 
clerks,  stenographers,  clerks  and  interpreters.  One  attorney  is 
given  charge  of  applications  for  pardon  referred  to  the  depart- 
ment. Another  has  charge  of  questions  connected  with  the 
title  to  land  owned  or  sought  to  be  acquired  by  the  government. 

The  chief  clerk  supervises  the  work  of  the  clerks  and  minor 
employees  of  the  department ;  and  has  charge  of  the  mail  and 
supplies.  The  general  agent  has  charge  of  matters  relating  to 
United  States  prisoners,  directs  the  special  agents  who  examine 
the  offices  and  records  of  United  States  court  officials,  and  has 
supervision  over  the  division  of  accounts.  The  division  of 
accounts  examines  and  audits  the  accounts  of  the  officers  of  the 
United  States  courts,  and  compiles  estimates  for  annual  appro- 
priations. The  disbursing  clerk  disburses  the  funds  for  pay- 
ing the  salaries  in  the  United  States  judicial  service,  and  in  the 
department  of  Justice.  The  appointment  clerk  has  charge  of 
applications  and  recommendations  for  appointments  and  the 
preparation  of  commissions. 

An  examination  of  the  organization  and  jurisdiction  of  the 
United  States  judicial  courts  does  not  fall  within  the  scope  of 
this  work ;  as  the  judiciary  forms  a  separate  and  independent 
branch  of  the  government.  But  the  executive  and  adminis- 
trative officers  of  these  courts  must  be  considered  as  the  local 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  JUSTICE  173 

agents  of  the  department  of  Justice.  These  officers  are  the 
district  attorneys  and  marshals  of  the  courts. 

Local  government  attorneys  were  unknown  both  in  England 
and  the  American  colonies.  Criminal  prosecutions  were  ordi- 
narily begun  by  private  individuals ;  while  the  specially  impor- 
tant criminal  cases  and  civil  cases  requiring  a  government 
attorney  were  attended  to  by  the  attorney-general  and  his 
immediate  staff.  But  the  Judiciary  Act  of  1789,  organizing 
the  United  States  courts,  provided  that  in  each  judicial  district 
there  should  be  an  attorney  of  the  United  States  to  con- 
duct government  business  in  the  courts.  At  first  these  district 
attorneys  were  paid  by  fees,  and  probably  gave  only  a  part  of 
their  time  to  government  matters.  But  with  the  development 
of  public  prosecutions  in  criminal  cases,  they  have  become  per- 
manent salaried  officials ;  while  a  corresponding  class  of  officials 
has  also  been  developed  in  the  states. 

District  attorneys  are  now  appointed,  by  the  President  and 
Senate,  for  each  of  the  eighty-six  judicial  districts  of  the 
United  States.  Their  terms  are  four  years,  and  their  salaries 
vary  from  $2,000  to  $6,000.1  In  most  districts  there  are  one  or 
more  assistant  attorneys  and  clerks. 

It  is  the  duty  of  each  district  attorney  to  prosecute,  in  his 
district,  all  delinquents  for  crimes  and  offenses  cognizable 
under  the  authority  of  the  United  States,  and  all  civil  actions 
in  which  the  United  States  are  concerned.  In  certain  cases  he 
must  act  as  attorney  in  suits  where  officers  of  the  United  States 
are  parties ;  unless  otherwise  instructed  by  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  he  must  appear  in  behalf  of  the  defendants  in  all 
suits  against  collectors  or  other  revenue  officers  in  connection 
with  their  official  duties ;  and  he  must  conduct  suits  and  pro- 
ceedings under  the  national  banking  law  which  involve  United 
State  officers.2 

1  The  District  Attorney  for  the  southern  district  of  New  York  is,  how- 
ever, still  paid  by  fees;  and  as  this  is  the  most  important  district  in  the 
country  these  amount  to  very  large  sums,  and  are  said  to  give  this  officer 
a  larger  net  income  than  the  salary  of  the  President. 

'  Bevised  Statutes,  §§  380,  381,  771. 


174  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

From  this  statement  it  will  be  seen  that  the  duties  of  the 
district  attorney  are  analogous  to  the  court  functions  of  the 
Attorney-General.  The  district  attorneys,  in  fact,  stand  in 
much  the  same  relation  to  the  district  and  circuit  courts  as  does 
the  Attorney-General  to  the  Supreme  Court.  They  are,  as  has 
been  noted,  under  the  general  superintendence  of  the  Attorney- 
General  ;  but  it  has  been  held  that  this  does  not  authorize  him 
to  control  the  actions  of  the  district  attorneys  by  general  regu- 
lations.1 

One  of  the  most  important  branches  of  the  work  of  district 
attorneys  is  their  control  over  criminal  prosecutions.  Limited 
as  they  are  to  crimes  against  the  authority  of  the  United  States, 
this  function  is  of  less  importance  than  that  of  the  prosecuting 
attorneys  in  the  states;  but  within  thj^r  own  field  they  have 
the  same  influence.  It  depends  to  a  large  extent  on  their  action 
to  secure  an  indictment,  and  to  carry  on  the  prosecution  so  as 
to  secure  conviction.2  But  in  case  of  neglect  of  duty,  the 
supervision  of  the  Attorney-General  is  more  likely  to  secure 
the  removal  of  the  delinquent  official  than  in  the  states. 

United  States  marshals  were  also  a  new  creation  of  the  Judi- 
ciary Act  of  1789 ;  but  their  functions  correspond  to  those  of 
the  old  English  office  of  sheriff.  Marshals  are  appointed  by 
the  President  and  Senate  for  each  judicial  district  of  the 
United  States  for  a  term  of  four  years.  Each  marshal  has  a 
number  of  deputies  to  assist  in  the  duties  of  the  office. 

It  is  the  duty  of  each  marshal  to  attend  the  district  and 
circuit  courts  of  the  United  States  when  sitting  in  his  district ; 
and  to  execute  throughout  the  district  all  lawful  precepts 
directed  to  him  and  issued  under  the  authority  of  the  United 
States.  The  marshals  and  their  deputies  have  in  each  state  the 
same  powers  in  executing  the  laws  of  the  United  States  as  the 
sheriffs  in  such  state  have  in  executing  its  laws.3  They  make 
arrests  and  carry  out  the  judgments  of  the  courts,  seizing  and 

xFish  v.  U.  S.  (D.  C.)  36  Fed.  677. 

2  Cf .  U.  S.  v.  Schumann,  7  Sawyer  (C.  C.)  439. 

• Eevised  Statutes,  §§  787,  788. 


THE  DEPAKTMENT  OF  JUSTICE  175 

selling  property  under  civil  judgments,  and  transferring  con- 
victed prisoners  to  the  place  of  confinement.  They  stand  in 
the  same  relation  to  the  peace  of  the  United  States  as  a  sheriff 
to  the  peace  of  the  state.1  Under  the  act  of  1789  it  was  consid- 
ered that  they  had  implied  power  to  summon  the  military 
forces  of  the  United  States  as  a  posse  comitatus;  but  the  act  of 
1878  prohibited  the  use  of  the  army  in  this  way  except  when 
expressly  authorized  by  the  constitution  or  acts  of  Congress.2 

*135TJ.  S.  63,  69. 

*  16  Opinions  Attorney-General,  162. 


CHAPTER   XII 

THE  POST-OFFICE  DEPARTMENT 

Eeferences.— MARSHAL  GUSHING:  The  Story  of  Our  Post  Office. — Ameri- 
can and  English  Encyclopedia  of  Law,  22:1036. — United  States 
Official  Postai  Guide. — Senate  Executive  Documents,  48th  Congress, 
2d  session,  No.  40. — Senate  Documents,  56th  Congress,  2d  session, 
No.  89. — GEORGE  G.  TUNNELL:  Bailway  Mail  Service. — North  Amer- 
ican Review,  149:399;  159:24;  166:342;  172:420,  551;  174:807; 
175:115;  178:220. — American  Law  Journal,  18:218. — American  Law 
Eemew,  27:75. — Central  Law  Journal,  5:258. — Forum,  24:471,  723. 
— Atlantic  Monthly,  77:95. — Publications  Ehode  Island  Historical 
Society,  I894.^United  Service  Magazine,  7:732,  934. — The  World's 
Work,  7:4074,  4280,  4589.— Banker's  Magazine,  12:337,  433. 

THE  POSTAL  SERVICE 

WHILE  the  highly  organized  and  elaborate  postal  service  of 
to-day  is  of  distinctly  modern  development,  its  earliest  origins 
are  to  be  found  in  the  period  of  antiquity.  From  primitive 
beginnings  there  developed  under  the  Roman  empire  organized 
systems  of  transportation  by  relays  of  horses  on  the  main  high- 
ways, which  carried  not  only  correspondence,  but  passengers 
and  baggage.  These  "  posts "  were  abandoned  as  a  result  of 
the  Germanic  invasions;  but  were  revived  during  the  later 
middle  ages,  notably  in  France  under  Louis  XI.  From  early 
in  the  sixteenth  century  a  system  of  posts  existed  in  England, 
for  the  convenience  of  the  government;  in  the  seventeenth 
century  posts  were  organized  in  that  country  for  the  conven- 
ience of  the  public ;  and  in  1710  the  postal  service  was  placed 
under  the  charge  of  a  postmaster-general. 

In  America  the  earliest  official  action  was  taken  by  the  Gen- 
eral Court  of  Massachusetts  Bay  in  1639 ;  which  selected  Rich- 
ard Fairbanks  to  take  charge  of  the  delivery  of  letters.  In 

176 


THE  POST-OFFICE  DEPABTMENT  177 

1657  the  Virginia  Assembly  passed  a  regulation  requiring  the 
proprietors  of  each  plantation  to  forward  letters  on  public 
business  to  the  next  plantation.  And  in  1672  a  regular 
monthly  post  was  established  between  Boston  and  New  York. 

A  more  important  step  was  taken  in  1692,  when  the  British 
government  issued  letters  patent  to  Thomas  Neale,  as  post- 
master-general of  Virginia  and  other  parts  of  North  America, 
authorizing  a  general  service  between  the  different  colonies. 
In  1693  the  General  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania  provided  for  a 
postmaster  at  Philadelphia,  with  deputies  at  other  places 
throughout  that  colony.  By  the  second  decade  of  the  eight- 
eenth century  a  line  of  posts  ran  from  Piscataqua  in  Maine  to 
Williamsburg  in  Virginia.1  In  1737  Benjamin  Franklin  was 
appointed  deputy  postmaster-general  and  in  1753  he  was  made 
postmaster-general  for  the  colonies.  In  1774  he  was  removed 
by  the  British  government ;  but  was  continued  in  office  under 
the  authority  of  the  Continental  Congress.  In  1776  this  gen- 
eral service  consisted  of  twenty-eight  post-offices  in  the  more 
important  towns.  During  the  ^Revolution  the  service  was 
badly  disorganized ;  and  although  both  the  general  government 
and  the  states  made  some  provisions  for  this  purpose,  no  effect- 
ive system  was  established  until  after  the  adoption  of  the 
constitution. 

A  general  postal  service  was  authorized  by  the  first  Congress 
under  the  constitution ;  and  in  September,  1789,  Samuel  Osgood 
was  appointed  Postmaster-General.  This  office  was  not,  how- 
ever, considered  as  a  Cabinet  position ;  and  the  service  was 
classed  as  a  branch  of  the  Treasury.  In  the  first  year  there 
were  seventy-five  local  post-offices  established,  and  mails  were 
carried,  mainly  on  horseback,  over  1,875  miles  of  post  roads. 
The  total  revenue  was  $37,000,  the  expenditures  $32,000 ;  and 
for  many  years  the  service  yielded  a  net  income  to  the  govern- 
ment. Eates  of  post  were  very  high,  and  varied  with  the  dis- 
tance carried.  Even  after  they  were  reduced  in  1792,  the 
charges  on  a  single  sheet  were  from  6  cents  for  30  miles  to  25 

1  McMaster,  History  of  the  People  of  the  United  States,  I,  40. 
12 


178  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

cents  for  over  450  miles.  Letters  containing  more  than  three 
sheets  were  classed  as  packages,  on  which  the  rate  was  the  same 
as  for  four  sheets.  Newspapers  were  especially  favored  from 
the  beginning  and  were  carried  a  distance  of  100  miles  for  one 
cent,  and  for  more  than  that  distance  for  one  and  a  half  cents. 

Step  by  step  the  service  was  extended;  and  by  1829  there 
were  8,004  post-offices,  and  115,000  miles  of  postal  routes,  while 
the  gross  expenditures  had  reached  the  sum  of  $1,782,000.  In 
that  year  President  Jackson  admitted  the  Postmaster-General, 
W.  T.  Barry,  to  his  Cabinet;  and  at  the  same  time  the  policy 
of  using  post-office  appointments  as  rewards  for  campaign  serv- 
ices was  introduced,— about  500  postmasters  being  removed  to 
make  places  for  friends  of  the  new  administration.  It  is  sig- 
nificant that  this  application  of  the  spoils  system  was  followed 
quickly  by  the  appearance  for  the  first  time  of  deficits  in  the 
budget  of  the  department,  amounting  to  $500,000  in  six  years. 

In  1835  Amos  Kendall  was  appointed  Postmaster-General ; 
and  under  his  direction  there  was  a  reorganization  of  admin- 
istrative methods,  followed  by  the  introduction  of  new  features 
which  caused  a  radical  development  in  the  volume  of  postal 
business.  The  postal  revenues  were  now  turned  into  the 
Treasury,  and  expenditures  were  made  dependent  on  congres- 
sional appropriations.  For  a  few  years  the  accounts  showed  a 
small  surplus;  but  with  the  reduction  of  the  rates  of  postage 
and  the  extension  of  the  service  deficits  again  appeared,  and 
have  continued  to  the  present  time.  Eailroads  were  first  used 
for  carrying  the  mails  in  1835 ;  and  the  use  of  this  new  method 
of  transportation  was  extended  as  additional  lines  were  built  in 
different  parts  of  the  country.  Political  influences  in  the  serv- 
ice continued,  however ;  and  were  emphasized  by  an  act  of  1836 
establishing  a  four  years'  term  for  the  postmasters  appointed 
by  the  President ;  while  the  system  of  political  patronage  was 
more  openly  established  under  President  Lincoln,  when  it  was 
announced  that  appointments  to  all  minor  post-offices  would 
be  made  on  the  recommendation  of  members  of  Congress. 

One  of  the  most  important  factors  in  the  development  of 


THE  POST-OFFICE  DEPAETMENT  179 

postal  business  was  the  adoption  in  1847  of  the  adhesive  post- 
age stamp,  which  had  been  introduced  in  Great  Britain  some 
years  before.  Up  to  this  time  the  amount  of  postage  had  to 
be  endorsed  on  each  letter ;  on  much  mail  the  postage  was  col- 
lected on  delivery;  and  the  postmasters  in  large  cities  kept 
book  accounts  for  postage  with  large  business  firms.  The  ad- 
sive  stamp  and  compulsory  prepayment  of  postage  immensely 
simplified  the  work  of  handling  mail  and  greatly  reduced 
expenses. 

Other  improvements  followed  rapidly.  In  1855  the  system 
of  registering  valuable  letters  was  introduced.  In  1863  the 
system  of  "free  delivery"  was  established  in  cities  of  over 
50,000  population ;  and  in  the  same  year  the  postage  on  letters 
was  reduced  to  a  uniform  rate  of  three  cents  per  half  ounce  to 
all  parts  of  the  United  States.  In  1864  the  money  order  system 
was  established,  and  the  railway  mail  service  was  begun. 

In  recent  years  there  has  been  a  constant  expansion  of  the 
service  to  outlying  districts,  and  a  steady  extension  of  special 
features,  such  as  the  money  order,  registry  and  "free  delivery" 
systems  and  the  railway  mail  service.  In  1883  the  rate  of 
letter  postage  was  again  reduced  to  two  cents  per  ounce,  and 
since  1895  the  "free  delivery"  system  has  been  rapidly  intro- 
duced into  rural  districts. 

At  the  present  time  there  are  74,000  post-offices  in  the  United 
States,  the  post  routes  aggregate  506,000  miles,  and  the  annual 
expenditure  of  the  department  exceeds  $150,000,000.  Besides 
the  postmasters,  there  are  20,000  clerks  and  30,000  letter  car- 
riers ;  and  the  total  number  of  persons  employed  in  the  postal 
service  is  more  than  in  all  the  other  civil  branches  of  the 
national  government  combined. 

The  post-offices  are  graded  into  four  classes,  on  a  basis  of 
gross  receipts,  while  within  each  class  the  salaries  of  post- 
masters vary  with  the  volume  of  business.  The  first  class 
offices  are  those  whose  gross  receipts  exceed  $40,000  a  year. 
These  are  for  the  most  part  in  buildings  owned  by  the  govern- 
ment. In  the  larger  cities,  in  addition  to  the  central  post- 


180  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

office  there  are  branch  offices  and  sub-stations  in  different  parts 
of  the  cities  for  the  convenience  of  the  public.  In  some  cases 
these  branch  offices  are  in  different  municipalities,  notably  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Boston.  On  the  other  hand,  although 
Brooklyn  has  become  a  part  of  the  city  of  New  York,  it  has  still 
an  independent  post-office.  The  largest  volume  of  postal  busi- 
ness is  naturally  in  New  York,  where  the  annual  revenues  are 
$13,000,000.  The  gross  revenue  of  the  Chicago  post-office  is 
over  $9,000,000  a  year;  in  Philadelphia  and  Boston,  about 
$4,000,000  each. 

Second  class  post-offices  are  those  whose  annual  receipts  are 
between  $8,000  and  $40,000.  The  premises  for  these  offices  are 
usually  rented  by  the  government.  Both  first  and  second  class 
post-offices  have  besides  the  postmaster,  an  assistant  postmaster, 
selected  by  the  postmaster,  and  varying  numbers  of  clerks  and 
carriers.  The  latter  are  appointed  from  those  who  pass  civil 
service  examinations  in  all  places  where  there  is  a  ' '  free  deliv- 
ery "  service  which  comprises  all  cities  with  a  population  of 
over  10,000  or  with  postal  revenues  amounting  to  $10,000  a 
year. 

Third  class  post-offices  are  those  whose  annual  receipts  are 
between  $1,900  and  $8,000.  Postmasters  of  these  offices  and 
of  those  in  the  first  two  classes  are  appointed  by  the  President 
and  Senate;  but  for  the  most  part  have  been  selected  by  the 
members  of  Congress  or  the  state  managers  of  the  party  in 
power.  The  government  does  not  directly  provide  premises 
for  third  class  offices;  but  makes  an  allowance  for  rent  and 
incidental  expenses,  which  often  has  to  be  supplemented  from 
the  postmaster's  salary. 

Fourth  class  post-offices  include  those  with  an  annual  rev- 
enue of  less  than  $1,900 ;  and  these  form  more  than  70,000  of 
the  whole  number.  Postmasters  in  this  class  are  appointed  by 
the  Postmaster-General ;  but  in  the  main  on  the  recommenda- 
tion of  Congressmen  and  political  managers.  Fourth  class 
postmasters  receive  no  fixed  salary,  but  are  paid  in  proportion 
to  the  volume  of  business  each  year ;  and  from  their  compensa- 


THE  POST-OFFICE  DEPARTMENT 

tion  must  provide  the  necessary  accommodations  and  appa- 
ratus. These  positions  are  usually  filled  by  small  retail  deal- 
ers, who  conduct  the  post-office  in  connection  with  their  other 
business. 

Postmasters  have  charge  of  the  care  and  distribution  of  the 
mails  at  their  local  post-offices.  They  are  the  agents  of  the 
government  in  the  employment  of  clerks  and  letter  carriers, 
over  whom  they  have  general  superintendence.  They  arrange 
schedules  for  the  collection  and  delivery  of  mails.  They  are 
held  responsible  to  the  government  in  their  official  capacity; 
and  they  are  liable  for  loss  caused  by  their  negligent  or  un- 
lawful action  or  inaction.  Ordinarily  they  are  not  liable  for 
the  negligence  or  misfeasance  of  clerks  and  assistants. 

Formerly  only  letters  and  unbound  printed  matter  could  be 
sent  through  the  mail ;  but  later  books  and  small  packages  of 
merchandise  have  been  added  to  the  list.  But  within  the  gen- 
eral limits  of  mailable  matter  there  are  certain  things  excluded. 
Congress  has  prohibited  from  the  mails  any  matter  concerning 
lotteries,  and  all  matter  that  is  obscene,  lewd  or  lascivious ;  and 
has  authorized  the  Postmaster-General  to  prevent  the  delivery 
of  mail  matter  to  persons  engaged  in  using  the  postal  service 
for  conducting  a  lottery  or  a  scheme  to  obtain  money  by  false 
and  fraudulent  pretenses.  Such  restrictions  do  not  conflict 
with  the  constitutional  guarantees  in  favor  of  the  freedom  of 
the  press  or  against  depriving  a  person  of  property  without 
due  process  of  law.1 

There  are  four  classes  of  mail,  each  with  different  rates  of 
postage.  The  first  class  consists  of  letters  which  are  carried 
anywhere  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  for  two 
cents  per  ounce,  and  postal  cards,  costing  one  cent  each.  Sec- 
ond class  mail  consists  of  newspapers  and  magazines,  on  which 
the  charge  is  one  cent  a  pound  when  sent  by  the  publishers.2 

1 96  U.  S.  727;  143  U.  S.  HO. 

*  This  rate  does  not  apply  to  delivery  by  carrier  in  the  city  of  publica- 
tion. With  the  same  exception,  second  class  publications  are  taken  free 
for  delivery  to  actual  subscribers  within  the  county  of  publication. 


182  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

and  one  cent  per  four  ounces  when  sent  by  others.  Third  class 
mail  consists  of  all  other  printed  matter,  on  which  the  rate  is 
one  cent  per  two  ounces.  Fourth  class  includes  packages  of 
merchandise  weighing  not  more  than  four  pounds,  which  are 
carried  at  the  rate  of  one  cent  an  ounce. 

To  all  foreign  countries  within  the  International  Postal 
Union  the  rate  of  postage  on  letters  is  five  cents  per  half  ounce, 
and  on  newspapers  one  cent  for  two  ounces.  By  special  ar- 
rangements, mail  to  and  from  Canada  and  Mexico  is  carried  at 
domestic  rates. 

Kates  on  third  and  especially  on  fourth  class  matter  are 
higher  in  the  United  States  than  in  most  foreign  countries ;  and 
these  two  classes  form  a  comparatively  small  part  of  the  postal 
business.  First  class  mail  constitutes  the  greater  part  of  the 
number  of  pieces  carried  and  produces  nearly  four-fifths  of  the 
total  postal  revenue.  Second  class  mail  forms  more  than  half 
(55  per  cent.)  of  the  total  weight  of  mail  carried,  and  costs  the 
government  for  transportation  alone  more  than  $30,000,000  a 
year ;  but  the  total  revenue  is  less  than  $5,000,000  a  year.  The 
loss  to  the  government  on  this  class  of  mail  has  been  much 
increased  by  devices  of  publishers  and  business  houses  in  issu- 
ing printed  books  and  advertising  pamphlets  in  serial  form; 
and  while  some  of  the  worst  abuses  have  been  remedied 
recently,  the  provisions  of  the  law  permit  many  publications  to 
secure  second  class  rates  which  have  no  special  claim  on  the 
bounty  of  the  government. 

Another  factor  which  explains  the  deficit  in  the  postal 
budgets  is  the  large  amount  of  mail  carried  on  behalf  of  the 
national  government.  Not  only  do  the  administrative  and 
judicial  officers  pay  no  postage  on  official  correspondence,  but 
the  members  of  Congress  through  their  franking  privilege  have 
the  same  advantage.  About  one-eighth  of  the  total  weight  of 
mail  is  government  mail. 

Transportation  forms  one  of  the  largest  items  of  postal  ex- 
penses, amounting  to  $60,000,000  a  year.  Mail  is  carried  by 
all  sorts  of  public  conveyances.  Nearly  every  mile  of  railroad 


THE  POST-OFFICE  DEPAETMENT  183 

in  the  country  is  a  post  route.  There  are  41,000  miles  of 
steamer  routes  for  points  not  reached  by  railroads,  besides  the 
transoceanic  routes  to  foreign  countries.  There  are  also  250,- 
000  miles  of  "star  routes, "  where  the  mails  are  carried  by 
wagons  and  horsemen  to  points  off  the  main  lines  of  transpor- 
tation. All  of  this  service  is  done  by  private  individuals  and 
corporations  under  contract  with  the  government.  Speed  is 
an  important  element  in  securing  these  contracts ;  and  there  is 
often  active  competition  between  different  railroads  in  estab- 
lishing fast  trains  to  secure  a  large  share  of  the  business.  On 
the  other  hand,  it  is  claimed  that  the  payments  made  for  trans- 
portation (the  rates  of  which  have  not  been  altered  since  1873) 
are  excessive  and  much  higher  than  the  railroads  obtain  for 
similar  service  from  the  express  companies. 

Closely  connected  with  the  transportation  of  the  mails  is  the 
railway  mail  service.  On  most  of  the  railroad  lines  postal  cars 
are  attached  to  express  trains,  which  not  only  carry  pouches  of 
mail,  but  have  also  a  staff  of  clerks  who  sort  and  distribute  the 
mail  en  route,  thus  reducing  the  work  of  the  distributing  cen- 
ters and  increasing  the  rapidity  of  the  postal  service.  Nearly 
9,000  railway  mail  clerks  are  employed  by  the  government  in 
this  branch  of  the  service. 

Delivery  of  mail  to  the  addressee  was  formerly  made  only  at 
the  post-office.  To  facilitate  this  work  letter  boxes  were  set 
up  in  the  office  and  rented  to  those  receiving  mail.  Later  the 
government  developed  an  elaborate  system  of  local  delivery  by 
carriers  to  the  house  or  business  address.  This  system,  mis- 
called "free  delivery, "  is  now  provided  to  about  one-half  of 
the  population  of  continental  United  States.  The  service  is 
established  in  cities  aggregating  a  population  of  30,000,000; 
and  the  more  recently  organized  rural  delivery  is  already 
(October,  1904)  in  operation  on  some  27,000  routes,  reaching 
a  population  of  approximately  12,000,000.  The  sender  of  a 
letter  loses  control  over  it,  as  soon  as  it  is  placed  in  the  post- 
office  ;  and  the  Post-Office  department  becomes  at  once  the  agent 
of  the  addressee  to  forward  and  deliver  it  to  him. 


184 


THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 


Several  special  services  are  now  added  to  the  earlier  func- 
tions of  the  post-office.  By  affixing  a  "special  delivery 
stamp,"  costing  an  additional  fee  of  ten  cents,  a  letter  or  pack- 
age will  be  delivered  to  the  addressee  immediately  after  its 
arrival  at  the  terminal  post-office.  By  the  registry  system,  on 
payment  of  a  fee  of  eight  cents,  an  exact  record  is  kept  of  the 
movement  of  valuable  or  important  letters,  a  receipt  for  their 
delivery  is  returned  to  the  sender,  and  meanwhile  they  are 
insured  against  loss  or  destruction  to  the  value  of  $25  each. 
Through  the  money  order  system,  the  government  does  a  vast 
amount  of  banking  business,  in  the  transfer  and  exchange  of 
small  sums  of  money  for  trifling  fees.  Money  orders  are  now 
issued  and  paid  at  30,000  post-offices ;  and  46,000,000  orders, 
aggregating  $350,000,000,  are  handled  in  a  year.1 

In  other  countries  several  additional  services  are  performed 
by  the  post-office,  which  as  yet  have  not  been  adopted  by  the 
United  States  government.  While  in  this  country  packages 
weighing  over  four  pounds  will  not  be  taken,— except  in  the 
case  of  single  books  or  by  paying  letter  rates,— in  several  for- 
eign countries  parcels  up  to  ten  or  fourteen  pounds  are  taken, 
at  much  lower  rates  than  are  charged  by  express  companies  in 
the  United  States.  In  Great  Britain  and  France  the  post- 
office  does  an  enormous  saving  bank  business,  which  reaches 

1  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  POSTAL  SERVICE 


EXPENDITURES 

Year 
ending 
June  90 

Number 
of  Post 
Offices 

Miles  of 
Post 
Routes 

Total 
Revenue 

Total 

TRANSPORTATION 

Domestic 

Foreign 

Mail 

Mail 

1800.    ... 

903 

20,817 

$        280,804 

$      213,994 

$     128,644 

1810.    ... 

2,300 

36,406 

551,684 

495,969 

327,966 

1820.    ... 

4,500 

72,492 

1,111,927 

1,160,926 

782,425 

1830.    ... 

8,450 

115,176 

1,850,583 

1,932,708 

1,274,009 

1840.    ... 

13,468 

155,739 

4,543,522 

4,718,236 

3,296,876 

1850.    ... 

18,417 

178,672 

5,499,985 

5,212,953 

2,965,786 

1860.    ... 

28,498 

240,594 

8,518,067 

19,170,610 

8,808,710 

1870.    ... 

28,492 

231,232 

19,772,221 

23,998,837 

10,884,653 

1880.    ... 

42,989 

343,888 

33,315,479 

36,542,804 

20,857,802 

199,809 

1890.    ... 

62,401 

427,990 

60,882,097 

65,930,717 

34,116,243 

563,631 

1900  .... 

76,688 

500,990 

102,354,579 

107,740,267 

54,135,930 

2,100,266 

1904  .    ... 

71,131 

496,818 

143,582,624 

152,362,116 

67,931,429 

2,516,053 

THE  POST-OFFICE  DEPARTMENT  185 

every  nook  and  corner  of  these  countries.  And  in  most  Euro- 
pean countries  the  telegraph  system  is  operated  by  the  govern- 
ment as  a  branch  of  the  postal  service. 

CENTRAL  ADMINISTRATION 

General  direction  of  the  postal  service  is  in  charge  of  the 
Postmaster-General.  He  establishes  and  discontinues  post- 
offices  ;  issues  postal  regulations ;  appoints  all  officers  and  em- 
ployees in  the  department  offices  at  Washington,  except  the 
four  assistant  postmasters-general;  appoints  all  postmasters 
whose  compensation  does  not  exceed  $1,000  a  year;  makes 
postal  treaties  with  foreign  governments,  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  President ;  and  awards  and  executes  contracts. 

There  are  four  assistant  postmasters-general,  appointed  by 
the  President  and  Senate.  All  of  these  are  considered  as  polit- 
ical positions ;  and  there  is  thus  no  permanent  official  in  any  of 
the  most  important  offices  in  the  department.  Each  assistant 
postmaster-general  has  supervision  over  a  number  of  the  divi- 
sions into  which  the  departmental  work  is  organized;  and  his 
position  thus  corresponds  in  some  degree  to  that  of  a  commis- 
sioner at  the  head  of  one  of  the  principal  bureaus  in  the  other 
departments.  But  the  grouping  of  the  divisions  in  the  Post- 
office  department  is  not  well  systemized,  and  only  the  second 
assistant  postmaster-general  is  in  charge  of  a  group  of  divisions 
so  related  in  their  operations  as  to  form  a  distinct  branch  of  the 
postal  service.  Each  of  the  others  has  charge  of  a  miscella- 
neous series  of  divisions  having  no  close  functional  relations 
with  each  other,  while  closely  related  divisions  are  separated 
and  placed  in  different  groups.  Each  assistant  postmaster- 
general  is  authorized  to  sign  certain  contracts  in  place  of  the 
head  of  the  department. 

The  first  assistant  postmaster-general  has  charge  of  five  divi- 
sions: salaries  and  allowances,  dead  letters,  correspondence, 
supplies  (mainly  stationery),  and  money  orders.  The  second 
assistant  postmaster-general  has  charge  of  the  general  subject 
of  mail  transportation,  which  is  subdivided  among  six  divis- 


186  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTBATION 

ions:  railway  adjustment,  contracts  for  star  and  steamboat 
routes,  inspection,  mail  equipment,  railway  mail  service,  and 
foreign  mail  service.  The  third  assistant  postmaster-general 
has  supervision  over  contracts  for  postage  stamps  and  official 
envelopes,  and  general  direction  over  the  following  six  di- 
visions: postal  finance,  postage  stamp  supplies,  mail  classi- 
fication, registered  mails,  redemption  of  stamped  paper,  and 
files,  mails  and  records.  The  fourth  assistant  postmaster-gen- 
eral has  charge  of  five  divisions :  appointments,  bonds  and  com- 
missions, mail  depredations,  city  delivery  and  rural  delivery. 

Some  readjustments  of  this  arrangement  almost  suggest 
themselves.  One  of  the  principal  bureaus  might  deal  with  all 
the  divisions  affecting  the  personnel  of  the  local  offices,— such 
as  appointments,  bonds  and  commissions,  and  salaries.  The 
divisions  of  stationery  supplies  and  stamp  supplies  should  be 
in  the  same  bureau.  And  special  services  such  as  money  orders 
and  registered  mail  could  with  advantage  be  placed  under  the 
same  general  superintendence. 

Divisions  in  the  Post-Office  department  are  in  charge  of  offi- 
cers usually  with  the  title  of  superintendent  or  chief ;  but  the 
head  of  the  railway  mail  service  has  the  more  dignified  rank  of 
general  superintendent.  Each  of  these  has  a  staff  of  clerks  in 
the  department  at  Washington;  while  some  of  them  have  a 
force  of  traveling  inspectors  and  special  representatives  in  the 
local  post-offices.  Traveling  inspectors  are  of  three  kinds: 
those  who  examine  local  offices  and  their  accounts,  and  the  rail- 
way mail  service ;  those  who  investigate  mail  depredations  and 
losses  and  criminal  violations  of  the  postal  laws ;  and  those  who 
investigate  conditions  for  the  establishment  of  rural  delivery 
routes. 

One  serious  defect  in  the  organization  of  the  postal  adminis- 
tration is  the  absence  of  any  officials  of  general  authority  over 
large  territorial  districts,  intermediate  between  the  local  offices 
and  the  central  department  at  Washington.  None  of  the  great 
railroad  systems  attempts  to  supervise  all  their  station  agents 
and  local  representatives  directly  from  one  central  office ;  but 


THE  POST-OFFICE  DEPABTMENT  187 

makes  use  of  territorial  divisions,  in  each  of  which  there  is  a 
superintendent  and  division  representative  of  the  main 
branches  of  the  service.  The  vast  and  complex  postal  service 
covering  the  whole  country  would  certainly  be  improved 
through  a  similar  class  of  permanent  officials  acting  as  general 
superintendents  over  territorial  districts,  and  from  whom 
there  might  be  selected  a  general  manager  for  the  whole 
system. 


CHAPTER   XIII 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR— I 

PUBLIC  LANDS 

References. — American  and  English  Encyclopedia  of  Lawt  26:197. — 
Decisions  of  the  Department  of  the  Interior  and  of  the  Public  Land 
Office. — THOMAS  DONALDSON:  The  Public  Domain  (House  Executive 
Documents  47,  46th  Congress,  3d  session).— W.  H.  LESTER:  Land 
Laws,  Eegulations  and  Decisions  of  the  United  States. — D.  H.  TAL- 
BOT:  Land  Laws  of  the  United  States. — H.  N.  COPP:  Public  Land 
Laws. — D.  S.  SICKLES  :  United  States  Mining  Laws  and  Decisions. — 
S.  SATO:  History  of  the  Land  Question ""( Johns  Hopkins  University 
Studies,  IV). — A.  B.  HART:  Practical  Essays,  No.  10. — B.  A.  HINS- 
DALE:  Old  Northwest,  ch.  14. — WINSOR:  Narrative  and  Critical  His- 
tory, 7:533. — Atlantic  Monthly,  43:325. — Forum,  29:347. — North 
American  Review,  133 :204 ;  140 : 280. 

INDIAN  AFFAIRS 

CHARLES  J.  KAPPLER,  editor:  Indian  Affairs,  Laws  and  Treaties,  1778- 
1902  (Senate  Document  452,  57th  Congress,  1st  session) — CYRIL  THOMAS: 
The  Indians  of  North  America  (1904). — ALICE  C.  FLETCHER:  Eeport  on 
Indian  Education. — F.  A.  WALKER:  The  Indian  Question. — GEORGE  W. 
MANNYPENNY  :  Our  Indian  Wards. — GEORGE  E.  ELLIS  :  The  Bed  Man  and 
the  White  Man. — MRS.  H.  H.  JACKSON:  A  Century  of  Dishonor. — Amer- 
ican Law  Review,  15:21;  20:183.— Atlantic  Monthly,  68:549,  676; 
83:255;  84 : 280.— North  American  Review,  128:413;  167 : 719.— Forum, 
10:708;  28:737.— Annals  Amer.  Acad.  Soc.  and  Pol.  Sci.,  2 : 813.— Review 
of  Reviews,  5:551;  23:451.— Federal  Reporter,  14:541. 

UNLIKE  the  other  departments  in  the  national  administra- 
tion, the  title  of  the  department  of  the  Interior  does  not  indi- 
cate with  any  clearness  the  character  of  the  work  with  which 
it  has  to  deal.  Indeed,  the  matters  assigned  to  it  are  so  mis- 
cellaneous and  heterogeneous  that  it  would  probably  be  impos- 
sible to  find  any  simple  title  that  would  serve  to  describe  them. 
It  has  already  been  noted,  too,  in  speaking  of  the  Secretary  of 

188 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR— I  189 

the  Interior  as  a  member  of  the  Cabinet,  that  this  department 
in  the  United  States  deals  in  large  measure  with  different  sub- 
jects than  the  department  of  the  Interior  in  the  countries  of 
continental  Europe.  But  the  very  complex  variety  of  interests 
grouped  together  serve  to  make  the  department  one  of  the  most 
important  from  the  administrative  point  of  view ;  and  its  staff 
employed  at  Washington  ranks  second  only  to  that  of  the 
department  of  the  Treasury. 

As  originally  constituted,  by  act  of  March  3,  1849,  the  de- 
partment of  the  Interior  included  the  patent  office,  transferred 
from  the  department  of  State ;  the  general  land  office,  from  the 
department  of  the  Treasury ;  the  Indian  service  and  the  pen- 
sion bureau,  from  the  department  of  War;  the  accounts  of 
marshals  and  other  officers  of  the  United  States  courts;  and 
some  minor  matters.  Some  of  these  have  since  been  trans- 
ferred to  other  departments :  the  supervision  over  the  accounts 
of  the  officers  of  the  courts  and  over  the  penitentiaries,  to  the 
department  of  Justice;  and  the  oversight  of  public  buildings 
to  the  department  of  the  Treasury.  But  what  the  department 
of  the  Interior  has  lost  in  this  way  has  been  more  than  made  up 
by  the  addition  of  other  functions :  the  geological  survey,  the 
bureau  of  education,  supervision  over  the  organized  territories, 
oversight  of  railroad  land  grants,  the  management  of  national 
parks  and  the  administration  of  local  institutions  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia. 

Over  all  of  these  matters,  and  the  officers  specially  charged 
with  duties  in  each  of  them,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  has 
general  supervision.  More  specifically  he  acts  as  an  appellate 
authority,  from  the  various  subordinate  commissioners;  and 
renders  decisions  on  questions  of  patent  law,  pension  law,  land 
law  and  the  construction  of  Indian  treaties,  which  form  an 
important  part  of  the  law  governing  these  various  subjects. 
In  the  exercise  of  this  quasi-judicial  appellate  function,  he  can 
call  upon  the  assistant  attorney-general  for  the  department1 
and  his  corps  of  attorneys  for  the  examination  of  documents 

1  See  page  172. 


19Q  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

and  precedents  and  for  legal  advice ;  but  the  responsible  deci- 
sion must  be  made  by  the  secretary  himself. 

In  the  immediate  office  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  as 
distinguished  from  the  various  bureaus  of  the  department, 
there  is  a  first  assistant  secretary  of  the  department,  an  assist- 
ant secretary,  and  a  large  staff  of  clerks  organized  in  the  fol- 
lowing divisions:  appointment,  finance,  lands  and  railroads, 
Indian  affairs,  Indian  Territory,  patents  and  miscellaneous, 
board  of  pension  appeals,  stationery  and  printing,  public  docu- 
ments, custodian,  library  and  superintendent's  branch. 

PUBLIC  LANDS 

Perhaps  the  most  important  of  the  bureaus  in  the  depart- 
ment of  the  Interior  is  the  general  land  office,  which  has  charge 
of  the  administration  of  the  public  domain,  or  the  lands  owned 
by  the  United  States.  The  office  was  created  in  1812  as  a 
bureau  in  the  department  of  the  Treasury,  which  had  pre- 
viously had  charge  of  the  public  lands;  and  in  1849  it  was 
transferred  to  the  department  of  the  Interior.. 

The  acquirement  of  the  public  lands  has  been  closely  related 
to  the  territorial  expansion  of  the  United  States ;  but  the  two 
movements  have  not  been  identical,  and  it  is  important  to  dis- 
tinguish clearly  between  the  extension  of  governmental  juris- 
diction and  the  acquirement  of  ownership  in  the  land.  In  the 
colonial  period  both  ownership  and  jurisdiction  were  held  to  be 
vested  in  the  Crown  of  England,  which  made  grants  of  both 
classes  of  power  to  the  colonizing  companies  and  private  indi- 
viduals. Within  the  limits  of  the  colonies  there  remained 
tracts  of  Crown  lands,  title  to  which  passed  to  the  states  at  the 
time  of  the  Revolution.  A  number  of  the  States  also  had  con- 
flicting claims  both  to  jurisdiction  and  ownership  over  the  area 
west  of  the  Alleghany  mountains;  and  the  national  domain 
was  begun  with  the  cession  of  a  large  part  of  these  claims  to  the 
Congress  of  the  Confederation  in  1780.  Over  all  of  the  terri- 
tory west  of  the  present  boundaries  of  the  original  thirteen 
states  all  claims  of  jurisdiction  were  surrendered,  and  from 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  INTEEIOR— I  191 

this  territory  new  states  were  later  created;  but  within  these 
limits  some  of  the  states  retained  the  property  title  to  part  of 
the  lands,  although  a  large  proportion  was  transferred  to  the 
United  States.  To  regulate  the  domain  thus  acquired  the  Con- 
gress in  1785  passed  an  ordinance  providing  for  the  survey  and 
sale  of  the  lands.  In  1789  the  new  national  government  came 
into  possession  of  these  lands. 

By  the  Louisiana  purchase  in  1803  the  United  States  not 
only  acquired  jurisdiction  over  the  territory  from  the  Missis- 
sippi river  to  the  Kocky  Mountains ;  but  also  came  into  posses- 
sion of  the  property  title  to  98  per  cent,  of  the  area.  The 
addition  of  the  Oregon  country  as  a  result  of  exploration  about 
the  same  time  added  to  the  public  domain  as  well  as  the  terri- 
torial jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  although  the  limits  of 
these  acquisitions  were  not  determined  until  1846.  The  pur- 
chase of  Florida  in  1819  included  the  property  title  to  most  of 
the  land.  On  the  other  hand,  the  annexation  of  Texas  in  1845 
did  not  of  itself  add  an  acre  to  the  public  domain  of  the  United 
States.  But  the  territory  annexed  as  the  result  of  the  Mexican 
War  was  for  the  most  part  also  an  addition  to  the  public 
domain,  and  this  was  further  increased  by  the  cession  from 
Texas  of  its  claims  to  lands  in  New  Mexico  and  neighboring 
states,  and  by  the  Gadsden  purchase  from  Mexico.  The  pur- 
chase of  Alaska  in  1867  involved  the  property  title  to  prac- 
tically all  of  the  land,  as  well  as  the  rights  of  jurisdiction. 
The  recent  annexations  of  the  Hawaiian  Islands  and  Porto 
Rico  have  not  involved  any  important  additions  to  the  public 
lands.  In  the  Philippine  Islands  are  large  tracts  of  public 
land,  acquired  partly  by  cession  from  Spain  and  partly  by 
purchase  from  the  friars ;  but  these  are  managed  by  the  Phil- 
ippine government,  and  do  not  come  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  general  land  office. 

Excluding  the  Philippine  Islands,  the  United  States  govern- 
ment has  at  one  time  or  another  had  the  ownership  in  fee 
simple  of  2,925,000  square  miles  of  land,  out  of  a  total  of 
3,500,000  square  miles  within  the  limits  of  the  country. 


192  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTBATION 

Of  the  public  lands  thus  acquired  a  large  part  has  already 
been  transferred  to  other  owners  by  sale  and  grant  under  a 
number  of  different  statutes.  Generally  before  public  land  is 
open  for  sale  it  must  be  surveyed,  according  to  the  rectangular 
system  adopted  in  the  ordinance  of  1785.  Under  this  plan  the 
lands  are  divided  by  north  and  south  lines  along  the  true 
meridian,  and  by  others  running  east  and  west  so  as  to  form 
townships  as  nearly  as  possible  six  miles  square.  Owing  to  the 
convergence  of  the  north  and  south  meridians  the  area  varies  a 
little  from  this.  Townships  are  divided  into  sections,  one  mile 
square  or  640  acres,  as  nearly  as  may  be;  and  the  sections  in 
each  township  are  numbered  consecutively,  from  one  to  thirty- 
six.  Sections  may  be  further  subdivided  into  half  sections  of 
320  acres,  and  quarter  sections  of  160  acres. 

For  this  work,  surveying  districts  are  established,  each  dis- 
trict comprising  a  state  or  territory.  There  are  now  seventeen1 
of  these  districts,  in  each  of  which  there  is  a  surveyor-general 
and  a  force  of  deputy  surveyors.  Each  surveyor-general  ap- 
points his  deputies,  formulates  and  enforces  rules  for  their 
direction,  and  may  remove  them  for  negligence  or  misconduct 
in  office.  Under  the  provisions  of  the  statutes  and  the  orders 
of  the  general  land  office,  the  surveyors  survey  and  measure 
base  and  meridian  lines  and  correction  parallels,  and  mark  the 
necessary  points  by  monuments.  They  must  also  survey  pri- 
vate land  claims  confirmed  by  Congress  so  far  as  may  be  neces- 
sary to  complete  the  public  survey.  Plats  of  surveys  are  sent 
to  the  United  States  local  land  offices  within  the  surveying  dis- 
trict; and  on  these  are  recorded  the  grants  and  sales  by  the 
government.  When  the  surveys  and  records  of  a  district  are 
completed,  all  the  survey  records,  including  maps,  field  notes 
and  other  papers,  are  delivered  to  the  secretary  of  the  state  or 
territory  wherein  made,  and  thereupon  the  United  States  sur- 
veying district  and  its  officers  are  discontinued. 

1  Alaska,  Arizona,  California,  Colorado,  Florida,  Idaho,  Louisiana,  Min- 
nesota, Montana,  Nevada,  New  Mexico,  North  Dakota,  Oregon,  South 
Dakota,  Utah,  Washington  and  Wyoming. 


THE  DEPABTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR— I  193 

From  the  beginning  the  national  government  adopted  the 
policy  of  disposing  of  the  public  lands  to  private  holders. 
Grants  were  made  to  the  soldiers  of  the  Revolutionary  army, 
and  afterwards  to  soldiers  in  the  Indian  wars,  the  War  of 
1812  and  the  Mexican  War.  Sales  of  land  at  first  were  mainly 
in  large  lots  to  colonizing  companies ;  but  in  1796,  in  order  to 
encourage  direct  purchase  by  the  settlers,  the  government  insti- 
tuted a  credit  system.  This,  however,  led  to  settlers  under- 
taking to  purchase  more  land  than  they  could  pay  for ;  and  in 
1820  the  credit  system  was  abolished,  the  government  now 
offering  to  sell  land  for  cash  at  a  minimum  price  of  $1.25  an 
acre  in  lots  as  small  as  forty  acres.  Large  speculative  pur- 
chases of  land  with  unsecured  bank  currency  brought  on  the 
financial  panic  of  1837. 

A  great  deal  of  land  has  been  granted  to  the  states  for  differ- 
ent purposes.  Beginning  with  Ohio  in  1802,  each  state  ad- 
mitted from  the  public  land  territory  was  given  one  section  in 
each  township  for  educational  purposes ;  states  admitted  since 
1850  have  received  two  sections  in  each  township  for  such 
objects ;  and  by  an  act  of  1862,  10,000,000  acres  were  given  to 
the  states  as  an  endowment  for  agricultural  colleges.  From 
1828  to  1846  the  enormous  amount  of  168,000,000  acres  were 
granted  to  various  states  for  internal  improvements,  at  first  for 
canals  and  later  for  railroads.  In  1849  swamp  and  overflowed 
lands  were  granted  to  the  states  in  which  they  lie. 

In  1841  the  preemption  act  was  passed  for  the  encouragement 
of  land  purchases  by  actual  settlers.  Under  this  act  the  head 
of  a  family  could  secure  160  acres  of  land  by  living  on  it  for 
six  months  and  paying  $200.  From  this  time  until  repeal  of 
the  law  in  1891  most  of  the  land  sales  were  made  under  this 
act. 

A  further  step  was  taken  to  encourage  settlement  by  the 
Homestead  Act  of  1863,  which  offered  160  acres  of  government 
land  to  any  head  of  a  family  after  living  on  it  for  five  years, 
and  paying  almost  nominal  fees.  By  the  Timber  Culture  act 
of  1873,  tracts  of  from  40  to  160  acres  were  given  for  planting 
13 


194  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

and  cultivating  trees  on  a  small  area  for  five  years ;  but  abuses 
led  to  the  repeal  of  this  act  in  1891. 

At  the  time  of  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California,  there  was 
no  special  law  governing  mining  lands.  Under  these  condi- 
tions the  miners  themselves  developed  a  system  of  customary 
regulations,  which  were  scrupulously  observed,  and  formed 
practically  the  only  mining  land  law  during  the  whole  period 
of  the  development  in  mining  the  precious  metals  from  1849  to 
1866.  When  Congress  finally  took  action  it  not  only  recog- 
nized past  transactions  under  the  system  of  "camp  legisla- 
tion/' but  the  statute  of  1872  provided  that  purchases  should 
continue  to  be  "according  to  the  local  customs  or  rules  of 
miners  in  the  several  mining  districts,  so  far  as  the  same  are 
applicable,  and  not  inconsistent  with  the  laws  of  the  United 
States. " 

Since  1860  the  national  government  has  directly  granted 
large  tracts  of  land  to  private  corporations  as  subsidies  for  the 
building  of  transcontinental  railroads,  such  as  the  Union 
Pacific,  Central  Pacific  and  Northern  Pacific. 

Other  statutes  made  special  provisions  in  regard  to  the  dis- 
posal of  desert  lands,  Indian  lands  and  land  for  town  sites. 

Under  these  various  methods  more  than  a  million  square 
miles  of  the  public  domain  have  been  disposed  of  to  private 
individuals  and  corporations.  The  gross  revenue  received 
from  the  sale  of  lands  has  been  about  $350,000,000.  The  ex- 
penses for  land  cessions,  extinguishing  the  occupancy  titles  of 
the  Indians,  surveys  and  administration  has  been  about  $360,- 
000,000.  If  the  management  of  the  lands  is  considered  purely 
as  a  financial  undertaking  the  net  returns  cannot  be  said  to 
show  a  successful  result,  and  there  would  seem  to  be  no  doubt 
that  there  has  been  a  good  deal  of  unnecessary  waste  in  the 
granting  of  lands  before  their  value  was  known.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  policy  of  the  government  has  undoubtedly  promoted 
the  rapid  settlement  and  development  of  the  country;  and  as 
an  indirect  result  of  this  the  government  may  have  received 
more  than  if  the  administration  of  the  public  lands  had  been 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  INTEEIOR— I  195 

conducted  with  a  view  to  the  largest  direct  financial  returns. 

About  1,600,000  square  miles  of  public  lands  are  still  owned 
by  the  national  government ;  and  it  is  with  the  management  of 
this  that  we  are  here  specially  concerned.  Nearly  one-third  of 
this  is  in  Alaska ;  and  the  remainder  is"  mostly  in  the  states  and 
territories  west  of  the  104th  meridian.  Most  of  it  is  mountain 
or  desert  land  unfit  for  agriculture  without  the  aid  of  exten- 
sive irrigation  works.  About  250,000  square  miles  are  set  aside 
for  Indian  reservations,  national  parks  and  forest  reservations. 
From  time  to  time  an  Indian  reservation  with  good  farming 
land  is  thrown  open ;  and  there  is  a  rush  of  settlers  and  pur- 
chasers eager  to  take  possession. 

Some  of  the  most  important  provisions  of  the  statutes  now 
in  force  governing  the  disposal  of  the  public  lands  may  be 
noted.  Under  the  homestead  act  any  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  or  any  person  who  has  declared  his  intention  of  becom- 
ing such,  who  is  the  head  of  a  family,  or  has  attained  his  major- 
ity, or  has  served  in  the  army  or  navy  in  time  of  war,  and  is 
not  already  the  proprietor  of  160  acres  of  land,  is  entitled  to 
enter  a  quarter  section  (160  acres)  or  less  amount  of  unappro- 
priated public  land,  and  may  acquire  title  thereto  by  establish- 
ing and  maintaining  residence  thereon  and  improving  and  cul- 
tivating the  land  for  a  period  of  five  years.  Fees  amounting 
to  from  $20  to  $40  must  be  paid ;  and  in  the  case  of  lands  for- 
merly Indian  reservations  an  additional  charge  of  from  50 
cents  to  $5  an  acre  is  now  made. 

Arid  lands  will  be  sold  to  resident  citizens  of  the  state  or 
territory,  in  tracts  of  not  over  320  acres  for  $1.25  an  acre,  and 
an  expenditure  of  at  least  $1  an  acre  each  year  for  three  years 
in  irrigation  and  improvement  works,  and  the  cultivation  of 
one-eighth  of  the  land.  Lands  chiefly  valuable  for  timber  and 
stone  will  be  sold  in  tracts  of  not  more  than  160  acres  at  $2.50 
an  acre.  Mining  claims  or  mineral  lands  are  sold  in  small 
areas  to  those  expending  at  least  $100  a  year  on  labor  and  $500 
on  permanent  improvements  at  $5  an  acre  or  fraction  thereof 


196  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

for  lode  claims,  and  $2.50  an  acre  for  placer  claims.  Lots  of 
land  on  town  sites  are  sold  at  a  minimum  of  $10  a  lot. 

In  the  case  of  homesteads,  and  lands  and  mining  claims  there 
must  be  a  preliminary  entry  at  the  government  land  office,  and 
the  occupancy  and  improvement  of  the  land  for  some  time 
before  a  patent  will  be  issued  and  a  complete  title  passed. 

Local  land  offices  are  established  in  all  of  the  states  where 
there  is  any  considerable  amount  of  public  land.  There  are 
now  117  of  these.  At  each  land  office  there  is  a  register  and 
receiver,  with  such  clerical  assistance  as  is  necessary.  These 
offices  must  examine  the  papers  submitted  by  those  making 
land  entries ;  and  when  satisfied  as  to  the  existence  of  the  neces- 
sary facts,  and  the  regularity  and  sufficiency  of  the  proofs,  the 
register  issues  his  certificate  to  that  effect  and  the  receiver 
gives  what  is  known  as  a  " final  receipt/'  and  upon  these  two 
papers  the  patent  to  the  land  is  finally  issued. 

Besides  the  officials  at  these  local  land  offices  there  is  what  is 
known  as  the  miscellaneous  land  service,  consisting  of  agents  of 
the  general  land  office  assigned  to  special  duties  in  different 
parts  of  the  country.  These  include  examiners  of  surveys, 
special  detective  agents,  the  custodians  of  abandoned  military 
reservations,  and  the  rangers  and  supervisors  in  the  forestry 
service.  The  last  named  now  has  the  care  of  fifty-four  forest 
reserves  in  the  western  states  and  territories,  aggregating  over 
60,000,000  acres.  The  largest  of  these  are:  the  Alexander 
archipelago  reserve  in  Alaska,  the  Washington  reserve,  the 
Cascade  Range  reserve  in  Oregon,  the  Sierra  reserve  in  Cali- 
fornia, the  Teton  reserve  in  Wyoming,  and  the  Black  Mesa 
reserve  in  Arizona.1 

General  administration  of  the  public  lands  and  the  land 
agents  of  the  United  States  is  vested  in  the  commissioner  of  the 
land  office.  He  is  required  to  perform  under  the  direction  of 
the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  all  executive  duties  appertaining 
to  the  survey  and  sale  of  the  public  lands  of  the  United  States, 

1  It  is  proposed  to  transfer  this  forestry  service  to  the  bureau  of  for- 
estry in  the  department  of  Agriculture. 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR—  I  197 

or  in  anywise  respecting  such  lands,  and  also  such  as  relate  to 
private  claims  of  land.1  He  prescribes  the  rules  governing  the 
local  registers  and  receivers;  and  has  supervisory  power  over 
them,  including  the  right  to  review  their  decisions  as  to  the 
matter  of  settlement  and  improvement  and  in  controversies 
between  different  settlers  as  to  the  right  of  preemption.2  Ap- 
peals from  the  local  land  officers  to  the  commissioner  are  fre- 
quently made ;  and  further  appeals  are  allowed  to  the  Secretary 
of  the  Interior.  The  decisions  on  these  appeals,  both  by  the 
commissioner  and  secretary,  are  published  from  time  to  time  in 
a  series  of  volumes  now  numbering  more  than  thirty.  These 
decisions  form  a  considerable  and  important  part  of  the  law 
governing  the  administration  of  the  public  lands ;  and  digests 
have  been  prepared  to  aid  in  referring  to  them. 

The  commissioner  of  the  land  office  also  acts  in  the  capacity 
of  an  auditor  of  the  treasury.  All  financial  returns  relating  to 
the  public  lands  are  made  to  him ;  he  audits  the  accounts ;  cer- 
tifies the  balances  and  transmits  the  accounts  to  the  treasury 
for  examination  and  decision ;  and  makes  settlements  with  the 
local  officers. 

In  the  general  land  office  at  Washington  there  is  also  an 
assistant  commissioner;  and  the  bureau  staff  is  organized  in 
thirteen  divisions,  as  follows:  Chief  clerk;  recorder;  public 
lands;  public  surveys;  railroads;  private,  Indian,  school  and 
arid  lands;  contests;  swamp  lands;  drafting;  accounts;  min- 
eral claims ;  special  service ;  and  forestry. 

INDIAN  AFFAIRS 

Most,  but  not  quite  all,  of  the  governmental  relations  with 
the  Indians  in  the  United  States  are  under  the  control  of  the 
national  authorities,  acting  mainly  through  the  Indian  bureau 
under  the  commissioner  of  Indian  affairs  in  the  department  of 
the  Interior. 

In  the  colonial  period  it  was  early  recognized  that  the  Indian 

1  Revised  Statutes,  §  453;  cf.  142  U.  S.  161,  177;  158  U.  S.  155,  167. 
*  1  Black  (U.  S.)  316;  157  U.  S.  372;  Revised  Statutes,  §  2273. 


198  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

tribes  had  a  possessory  right  in  the  soil,  which  must  be  extin- 
guished before  the  legal  title  of  the  Crown  could  be  put  into 
effect.  Accordingly  treaties  were  made  for  securing  the  con- 
sent of  the  Indians  to  one  tract  after  another ;  while  from  time 
to  time  military  operations,  both  offensive  and  defensive,  had 
to  be  carried  on  against  the  Indians.  In  New  York  before  the 
adoption  of  the  national  constitution  an  executive  department 
had  been  established  to  conduct  affairs  with  the  powerful  Iro- 
quois  league  of  Indians. 

Under  the  constitution  of  1787  Congress  has  power  to  regu- 
late commerce  with  the  Indian  tribes ;  but  this  grant  does  not 
serve  to  explain  all  the  authority  which  the  national  govern- 
ment has  come  to  exercise  over  the  Indians.  Of  at  least  equal 
importance  are  its  treaty  powers,  its  military  powers  and  its 
ownership  of  the  vast  public  domain,  through  which  it  came  to 
deal  with  conflicts  between  the  Indians  and  white  settlers,  and 
to  undertake  the  purchase  or  extinguishment  of  the  Indian 
right  of  occupancy  in  the  land. 

Down  to  the  year  1871  the  relations  between  the  Indians  and 
the  national  government  were  regulated  by  treaties  made  with 
the  several  tribes.  The  tribes  were  thus  considered  as  separate 
political  communities,  not  entirely  subject  to  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  United  States ;  but  they  were  by  no  means  considered  or 
treated  as  independent  nations.  The  legal  theory  of  their 
status  was  not  clearly  expressed  until  1831,  when  Chief  Justice 
Marshall,  in  the  case  of  Cherokee  Nation  v.  Georgia,1  discussed 

1  5  Peters,  1.  The  Cherokees  were  said  to  be  a  state,  * '  a  distinct  polit- 
ical society,  separated  from  the  others,  capable  of  managing  its  own 
affairs  and  governing  itself.  .  .  .  They  have  been  uniformly  treated 
as  a  state  from  the  settlement  of  our  country.  The  numerous  treaties 
made  with  them  by  the  United  States  recognize  them  as  a  people 
capable  of  maintaining  the  relations  of  peace  and  war,  of  being  respon- 
sible in  their  political  character  for  any  violation  of  their  engagements, 
or  for  any  aggression  committed  on  the  citizens  of  the  United  States  by 
any  individual  of  their  community.  Laws  have  been  enacted  in  the  spirit 
of  these  treaties.  The  acts  of  our  government  plainly  recognize  the 
Cherokee  nation  as  a  state,  and  the  courts  are  bound  by  these  acts. ' ' 

But,  "do  the  Cherokees  constitute  a  foreign  state  in  the  sense  of  the 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  INTEEIOR— I  199 

it  at  some  length,  ending  by  calling  them  "domestic,  depend- 
ent nations." 

For  nearly  fifty  years  the  management  of  Indian  affairs  was 
entirely  in  the  hands  of  the  military  authorities.  The  army 
put  down  uprisings,  which  occasionally  rose  to  the  dignity  of  a 
war.  Treaties  established  boundary  lines  running  roughly 
north  and  south  between  the  region  open  to  white  settlers  and 
the  Indian  country,  and  these  lines  were  steadily  moved  west- 
ward. In  Monroe's  administration  it  was  decided  to  move  all 
of  the  Indians  west  of  the  Mississippi  river ;  but  this  policy  was 
not  fully  executed  in  the  south  until  after  1830. 

President  Jackson  introduced  some  important  changes  in 
Indian  policy.  The  tribes  from  Georgia  and  Alabama  were 
moved  beyond  the  Mississippi ;  and  as  the  tide  of  white  settle- 
ment was  pushing  forward  across  that  stream,  Indian  reserva- 
tions with  ring  boundaries  were  established  in  place  of  the 
north  and  south  dividing  line.  The  execution  of  these  plans 
brought  on  two  serious  Indian  wars :  the  Black  Hawk  in  1831, 
and  the  Seminole  from  1835  to  1842.  About  the  same  time  (in 
1832)  the  office  of  commissioner  of  Indian  affairs  was  estab- 

constitution?  ....  In  the  general,  nations  not  owing  a  common  al- 
legiance are  foreign  to  each  other.  The  term  foreign  nation  is,  with  strict 
propriety,  applicable  by  either  to  the  other.  But  the  relation  of  the 
Indians  to  the  United  States  is  marked  by  peculiar  and  cardinal  distinc- 
tions which  exist  nowhere  else. ; ' 

"The  Indian  territory  is  admitted  to  be  part  of  the  United  States. 
....  They  acknowledge  themselves  in  their  treaties  to  be  under  the 
protection  of  the  United  States;  they  admit  that  the  United  States  shall 
have  the  sole  and  exclusive  right  of  regulating  the  trade  with  them. 
.  .  .  Though  the  Indians  are  acknowledged  to  have  an  unquestionable, 
and  heretofore  unquestioned  right,  to  the  lands  they  occupy,  until  that 
right  shall  be  extinguished  by  a  voluntary  cession  to  our  government;  yet 
it  may  well  be  doubted  whether  those  tribes  which  reside  within  the 
acknowledged  boundaries  of  the  United  States,  can  with  strict  accuracy 
be  denominated  foreign  nations.  They  may,  more  correctly,  perhaps,  be 
denominated  domestic  dependent  nations.  They  occupy  a  territory  to 
which  we  assert  a  title  independent  of  their  will,  which  must  take  effect 
in  point  of  possession,  when  their  possession  ceases.  Meanwhile  they  are 
in  a  state  of  pupilage.  Their  relation  to  the  United  States  resembles  that 
of  a  ward  to  his  guardian. ' ' 


200  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

lished,  to  have  charge  of  civil  relations  with  the  Indians ;  but 
the  new  commissioner  was  at  first  attached  to  the  department 
of  War,  and  army  officers  continued  to  act  as  Indian  agents. 
On  the  creation  of  the  department  of  the  Interior  in  1849,  the 
bureau  of  Indian  affairs  was  transferred  to  it,  and  a  more 
distinctly  civilian  administration  established.  The  main  object 
of  the  government's  policy,  however,  remained  as  before:  to 
secure  the  surrender  of  the  Indian  occupancy  of  the  land,  so 
as  to  make  way  for  white  settlers ;  and  to  confine  the  Indians  in 
reservations  of  constantly  narrowing  limits,  within  which  the 
tribal  conditions  remained  undisturbed. 

In  1871,  there  began  a  most  important  change  in  the  attitude 
of  the  government  towards  the  Indians.  A  statute  of  that  year 
provides  that  "No  Indian  nation  or  tribe  within  the  territory 
of  the  United  States  shall  be  acknowledged  or  recognized  as  an 
independent  nation,  or  power  with  whom  the  United  States 
may  contract  by  treaty. ' '  The  logical  outcome  of  this  measure 
was  the  annihilation  of  tribal  autonomy ;  and  it  marks  the  first 
step  in  that  direction.  But  the  practical  results  at  first  were 
but  slight.  The  obligation  of  previous  treaties  was  main- 
tained; and  "  agreements "  with  the  separate  tribes  have  been 
made,  differing  from  treaties  only  in  being  concluded  by  Con- 
gress, the  legislative  body,  instead  of  by  the  President  and 
Senate.  This  was  indeed  the  prime  object  of  the  provision, 
which  was  forced  upon  the  Senate  by  the  House  of  Kepresenta- 
tives  in  an  appropriation  bill. 

In  1885  another  statute  followed  up  the  logic  of  the  act  of 
1871  for  a  step  or  two.  This  claimed  for  the  United  States  full 
jurisdiction  over  individual  Indians  on  the  reservations,  by 
providing  that  for  the  seven  leading  crimes  such  Indians  should 
be  tried  in  United  States  or  territorial  courts.  Before  this,  the 
United  States  courts  had  dealt  only  with  crimes  on  reservations 
in  which  white  men  were  involved,  excluding  crimes  com- 
mitted by  Indians  against  Indians  as  a  matter  to  be  settled 
within  the  tribe;  while  the  states  were  also  held  to  have  no 
jurisdiction  over  Indians  in  their  tribal  relations.  It  had 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR— I  201 

indeed  been  suggested  that  not  even  the  national  government 
could  assume  jurisdiction  over  the  relations  of  the  Indians  with 
each  other ;  but  when  the  act  of  1885  was  brought  before  the 
Supreme  Court  it  was  held  to  be  clearly  constitutional.1  Fur- 
ther progress  in  establishing  the  new  policy  of  dealing  with 
the  Indians  not  as  tribes  but  as  individuals  was  made  by  an  act 
of  1887,  providing  for  the  allotment  of  Indian  lands  in  sev- 
eralty  to  the  various  members  of  a  tribe.  A  system  of  Indian 
schools  has  also  been  developed  for  the  education  of  Indian 
children  along  the  lines  of  modern  civilization. 

It  is  now  clearly  established  that  the  national  government  has 
supreme  authority  in  all  matters  concerning  Indian  affairs.* 
Where  Indian  reservations  are  expressly  excluded  from  the 
limits  or  jurisdiction  of  a  state  or  territory  (as  in  the  case  with 
larger  reservations  in  the  most  recently  created  states),  the 
latter  has  no  jurisdiction  therein,  and  the  national  government 
has  exclusive  control.8  So,  too,  for  purposes  relating  to  treaties 
or  agreements  between  the  United  States  and  the  Indians,  the 
government  has  exclusive  jurisdiction.  But  in  the  absence  of 
special  provisions  an  Indian  reservation  is  part  of  the  state 
or  territory  within  which  it  lies,  and  subject  to  its  jurisdiction 
except  in  reference  to  the  government  and  protection  of  the 
Indians.4 

National  control  over  the  Indians  is  exercised  partly  by  the 
United  States  courts,  and  partly  through  the  bureau  of  Indian 
affairs.  A  discussion  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  does  not, 
however,  come  within  the  scope  of  this  work ;  and  attention  will 
here  be  given  to  the  administration  of  the  laws  in  reference  to 
the  lands,  commerce,  protection  and  education  of  the  Indians. 
This  will  include  the  reservation  system,  Indian  schools,  non- 

1 U.  S.  v.  Kagama,  118  U.  S.  377. 

*  Worcester  v.  Georgia,  6  Peters,  515,  561 ;  3  Wallace,  407 ;  5  Wallace, 
737,  761. 

a  Harkness  v.  Hyde,  98  U.  S.  476. 

*102  U.  S.  145;  104  U.  S.  621;  116  U.  S.  28;  169  U.  S.  264;  170 
U.  S.  588. 


202  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

tribal  Indians,  and  the  organization  of  the  central  bureau  in 
Washington. 

There  are  now  about  160  Indian  reservations,  mostly  west  of 
the  Mississippi,  with  a  total  area  of  about  75,000,000  acres,  and 
a  population  of  about  270,000  Indians.  Outside  of  "  Indian 
Territory "  the  Indians  on  these  reservations  maintain  their 
tribal  organization ;  but  a  system  of  control  is  also  maintained 
by  the  Indian  agents,  representing  the  national  government. 
Before  1849  these  agents  were  usually  army  officers,  and  some 
military  agents  are  still  appointed ;  but  for  the  most  part  they 
are  now  civilians.  They  are  appointed  by  the  President  and 
Senate  for  a  term  of  four  years;  and  political  appointments 
have  often  led  to  mismanagement  and  corruption.  The  duties 
of  the  Indian  agents  are  to  manage  and  superintend  inter- 
course with  the  Indians  within  his  agency.  He  has  charge  of 
the  distribution  of  rations,  and  supervises  the  Indian  traders. 
Practically  he  acts  as  governor,  marshal  and  judge.  At  each 
agency  there  is  a  force  of  clerks  and  often  a  doctor  and  an 
experienced  farmer.  Schools  are  maintained  at  the  agency 
and  at  other  places  in  large  reservations.  Civilized  Indians 
are  given  positions  in  the  agency  service;  and  a  company  of 
Indian  police  is  organized  at  each  of  the  important  reserva- 
tions. The  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors  is  forbidden  on  reser- 
vations or  to  reservation  Indians. 

Special  arrangements  apply  to  the  "five  civilized  tribes m  in 
Indian  territory.  By  an  old  treaty  they  were  given  the  title 
in  fee  simple  of  their  lands ;  and  only  recently  have  agreements 
been  made  to  substitute  allotments  in  severalty  for  communal 
holdings.  There  are  also  organized  Indian  governments,  with 
a  legislature,  courts,  and  executive  officials.  A  good  deal  of 
land  is  cultivated  by  the  Indians;  while  about  300,000  white 
people  occupy  land  in  the  territory  under  leases  from  the  In- 
dians. A  special  Indian  inspector  has  general  supervision  over 
Indian  affairs  within  the  territory,  except  questions  of  citizen- 

1  The  Cherokees,  Chickasaws,  Choctaws,  Creeks  and  Seminoles. 


THE  DEPABTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR— I  203 

ship,  allotment  and  some  other  matters  in  charge  of  the  com- 
mission to  the  five  civilized  tribes. 

Under  the  land-in-severalty  acts  individual  allotments  of 
land  have  now  been  made  to  over  70,000  Indians,  aggregating 
about  9,000,000  acres.  To  protect  these  Indians  it  is  provided 
that  these  allotments  cannot  be  alienated  within  a  stated  period 
unless  with  the  consent  of  the  President  or  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior.  Indians  who  accept  such  allotments,  or  who 
leave  their  tribe  and  adopt  the  habits  of  civilized  people  be- 
come citizens  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  State ;  and  are 
entitled  to  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  citizens.1 

Besides  the  reservation  schools,  the  government  maintains 
twenty-five  Indian  schools  in  other  parts  of  the  country,  the 
most  important  being  those  at  Lawrence,  Kans.,  and  Carlisle, 
Pa.  At  these  schools  Indian  children  are  trained  in  reading, 
writing  and  arithmetic,  agricultural  pursuits  and  various  me- 
chanical and  industrial  trades.  A  superintendent  has  charge 
of  the  school  service ;  and  each  school  has  a  principal  with  a 
staff  of  teachers  for  the  various  branches  of  the  work. 

General  direction  over  Indian  affairs  and  the  force  of  Indian 
agents,  teachers  and  inspectors  is  vested  in  the  commissioner 
for  Indian  affairs,  under  the  supervision  of  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior.  The  commissioner  has  the  sole  power  to  license 
and  regulate  traders  with  the  Indian  tribes.  He  examines  the 
accounts  and  disbursements;  and  reports  to  Congress  on  the 
finances  and  administrative  work  of  the  Indian  service.  The 
total  expenditures  of  the  Indian  service  is  about  $10,000,000 
a  year,  about  $6,000,000  coming  from  funds  belonging  to  the 
Indians,  such  as  payments  in  accordance  with  treaty  stipula- 
tions, and  interest  on  trust  funds  of  moneys  paid  for  Indian 
lands. 

There  is  also  a  board  of  Indian  commissioners,  composed  of 

1  Before  the  statute  conferring  citizenship  was  enacted,  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  held  (Elk  v.  Wilkins,  112  U.  S.  94)  that  an 
Indian  did  not  become  a  citizen  under  the  fourteenth  amendment  by  leav- 
ing his  tribe. 


204  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

nine  members  appointed  by  the  President,  who  serve  without 
compensation  other  than  their  traveling  expenses.  This  board 
visits  the  reservations,  and  has  the  right  to  inspect  all  goods 
and  provisions  purchased  for  the  Indians,  and  to  examine  the 
expenditures  from  appropriations. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTEBOB— II 

PENSION  BUREAU 

Inferences. — CUBTIS  AND  WEBSTEB:  A  Digest  of  the  Pension  Laws, 
Decisions,  Killings,  Orders,  etc.  (1885) — CHITTY  AND  BIXLER:  Digest 
of  Pension  and  Bounty  Land  Decisions  (1897). — W.  H.  GLASSON: 
History  of  Military  Pension  Legislation  in  the  United  States  (Colum- 
bia University  Studies  in  Political  Science,  Vol.  12). — North  Amer- 
ican Beview,  166:374. — Atlantic  Monthly,  65:18. — Forum,  26:306; 
31 : 670.— Century,  6 : 427 ;  24 : 135.— Harper 's  Monthly,  86 : 235.— Lip- 
pincott's  Magazine,  28:200. — Chautauquan,  7:549. 

PATENT  OFFICE 

Decisions  of  the  Commissioner  of  Patents  and  of  the  United  States 
Courts  in  Patent  and  Trade  Mark  Cases  (1869). — W.  C.  EOBINSON:  The 
Law  of  Patents. — GEORGE  H.  KNIGHT:  Patent  Office  Manual. — Quarterly 
Journal  of  Economics,  5:44,  495. — Law  Quarterly,  7:150,  364. — Washing- 
ton Law  Beporter,  10:18. — Tale  Law  Journal,  3:149,  158. — Engineering 
Magazine,  6:351. — Gassier 's  Magazine,  19:207. — North  American  Eeview, 
23 :295.— American  Social  Science  Journal,  3:78. — Forum,  11:67. — Cen- 
tury, 39:346. — New  England  Magazine,  n.  s.,  4:136. — Chautauquan, 
13:310;  15:170,281. 

GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 

House  Beport  1285,  49th  Congress,  1st  session. — American  Journal  of 
Science,  129:93.— Journal  Franklin  Institute,  126:208. — Popular  Science 
Monthly,  46:479;  66 : 107.— Chautauquan,  14:669. 

TERRITORIES 

MAX  FARRAND:  The  Legislation  of  Congress  for  the  Government  of  the 
Organized  Territories  of  the  United  States. — THEODORE  EOOSEVELT:  Win- 
ning of  the  West,  ch.  6. — JAMES  BRYCE:  The  American  Commonwealth, 
ch.  47. — LALOR:  Cyclopedia  of  Political  Science,  articles  on  the  Ordinance 
of  1787,  Popular  Sovereignty,  Territories. — A.  B.  HART;  Actual  Govern- 
ment, ch.  20. 

PENSION  BUREAU 

PENSIONS  and  bounties  as  rewards  for  military  and  other 
public  services  have  existed  in  some  form  almost  since  the 

306 


206  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

beginning  of  history.  In  the  past  such  rewards,  especially  in 
the  form  of  feudal  land  grants,  were  of  very  large  importance. 
In  modern  times,  however,  since  government  expenditures  have 
been  placed  on  a  strict  money  basis,  pension  payments  are  a 
comparatively  unimportant  item  for  other  countries.  But  in 
the  United  States  during  the  last  twenty  years  these  payments 
have  constituted  the  largest  item  in  the  expenditures  of  the 
national  government. 

Pensions  in  America  began  during  the  colonial  period,  when 
they  were  given  to  disabled  soldiers.  At  the  outbreak  of  the 
Revolutionary  "War  the  Continental  Congress  promised  half 
pay  for  life  to  disabled  officers  and  men.  Later  half  pay  for 
life  was  voted  to  all  officers  who  served  through  the  war ;  but 
this  was  afterwards  commuted  to  a  cash  bonus  of  five  years' 
pay.  Money  pensions  and  land  grants  were  also  voted  by 
some  of  the  states. 

In  1789  the  national  government  assumed  the  payment  of 
military  pension  to  soldiers  disabled  in  the  Revolutionary  "War. 
Later  legislation  increased  the  expenditures,  notably  an  act  of 
1818  granting  pensions  to  all  dependent  Revolutionary  soldiers, 
and  acts  of  1833  and  1836  granting  service  pensions  and  pen- 
sions to  the  widows  of  Revolutionary  soldiers. 

Land  grants  were  given  to  soldiers  in  the  Indian  wars,  the 
"War  of  1812  and  the  Mexican  War;  and  money  pensions  to 
disabled  soldiers.  But  up  to  the  Civil  War  the  payments  for 
pensions  seldom  exceeded  two  million  dollars  a  year ;  and  the 
total  expenditures  were  but  little  more  than  eighty  million 
dollars. 

In  1862  a  new  invalid  pension  law  was  enacted,  increasing 
the  allowances ;  and  this  with  the  results  of  the  Civil  War  soon 
swelled  pension  expenditures  to  over  $20,000,000  a  year.  An 
act  of  1879  providing  for  the  payment  of  back  pensions  to  new 
claimants  brought  the  payments  up  to  $87,000,000  in  1889.  A 
dependent  pension  act  was  passed  in  1890,  twenty-five  years 
after  the  close  of  the  war  and  ten  years  earlier  than  the  similar 
act  for  revolutionary  soldiers.  Service  pensions  have  also 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR— II  207 

been  provided  for  soldiers  in  the  war  of  1812  (1871),  the  Mex- 
ican War  (1887)  and  the  Indian  wars  (1892).  In  addition 
several  thousand  special  pension  acts  have  been  passed,  grant- 
ing pensions  to  individuals  not  entitled  to  pensions  under  the 
general  laws.  As  a  result  pension  expenditures  rose  to  a  max- 
imum of  $147,000,000  in  1898 ;  since  when  they  have  slightly 
declined  to  $138,000,000  in  1903. 

Already  in  1890  the  annual  payments  for  pensions  by  the 
national  government  were  more  than  double  the  expenditures 
for  all  other  public  charity  in  the  United  States.  The  aggre- 
gate expenditures  for  pensions  since  1860  has  been  more  than 
$3,000,000,000,  a  larger  sum  than  the  debt  incurred  for  the 
war. 

Administration  of  the  pension  laws  was  first  entrusted  to  the 
department  of  War  for  army  pensions,  and  to  the  department 
of  the  Navy  for  navy  pensions.  In  1833  a  special  pension  bu- 
reau under  a  commissioner  of  pensionsTwas  established  in  the 
department  of  War ;  and  in  1840  this  bureau  was  given  charge 
of  navy  as  well  as  army  pensions.  In  1849,  on  the  creation  of 
the  department  of  the  Interior,  the  pension  bureau  was  trans- 
ferred to  this  department,  and  placed  under  the  general  super- 
vision of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior. 

The  commissioner  of  pensions  supervises  the  examination 
and  adjudication  of  claims  for  bounty  lands  or  pensions,  under 
the  acts  of  Congress.  He  establishes  regulations  governing  the 
officers  of  the  bureau  in  the  application  of  the  pension  laws. 
The  pension  bureau  has  full  charge  of  ascertaining,  determin- 
ing and  certifying  who  is  entitled  to  a  pension,  and  has  power 
to  review  its  own  decisions.  The  certificate  of  the  commis- 
sioner is  prima  facie  evidence  of  title  to  a  pension ;  but  as  he  is 
not  a  judicial  officer,  if  he  grants  a  pension  on  improper  or 
fraudulent  evidence,  the  government  may  recover  the  money 
paid  on  such  a  pension.1  The  decision  of  the  commissioner 
against  granting  a  pension  can  be  appealed  only  to  the  Secre- 

*4  Court  of  Claims,  218;  10  Fed.  Rep.  547;  25  Fed.  Rep.  470;  44  Fed. 
Rep.  475. 


208  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

tary  of  the  Interior.1  In  the  pension  bureau  there  are  two 
deputy  commissioners,  a  staff  of  examiners  and  medical  exam- 
iners, and  the  usual  clerical  force. 

Applications  for  pensions  must  be  made,  supported  by  affi- 
davits or  other  proof.  False  or  fraudulent  representations  as 
to  a  material  fact  will  invalidate  the  pension,  and  render  the 
party  liable  to  criminal  penalties.  Statements  as  to  military 
service  can  be  verified  from  the  official  records.  Claimants  for 
invalid  pensions  are  subject  to  medical  examinations.  A  spe- 
cial class  of  pension  attorneys  has  developed,  to  present  and 
urge  pension  claims ;  and  these  are  subject  to  the  regulations  of 
the  bureau  and  liable  to  be  excluded  from  practice  before  the 
department  for  violation  of  its  rules.  The  legal  fee  of  such 
attorneys  is  fixed  at  ten  dollars,  except  in  case  of  a  special  con- 
tract, when  a  payment  up  to  twenty-five  dollars  will  be 
allowed. 

For  the  payment  of  pensions  there  are  eighteen  local  agen- 
cies in  different  parts  of  the  country:  at  Augusta,  Me.,  Con- 
cord, N.  H.,  Boston,  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Washington, 
Buffalo,  Pittsburgh,  Columbus,  0.,  Indianapolis,  Detroit, 
Chicago,  Milwaukee,  Louisville,  Knoxville,  Des  Moines,  Topeka 
and  San  Francisco.  At  each  of  these  there  is  a  pension  agent, 
appointed  by  the  President  and  Senate,  with  a  staff  of  clerks. 
Pension  certificates  when  issued  are  sent  from  the  pension 
bureau  in  Washington  to  the  local  pension  agents,  who  prepare 
and  mail  quarterly  vouchers  to  the  pensioners;  and,  on  the 
return  of  the  vouchers  properly  executed,  the  agents  send 
checks  for  the  amounts  due. 

PATENT  OFFICE 

Patents  have  developed  from  royal  grants  of  monopolies  or 
exclusive  privilege  to  a  particular  trade  made  by  the  English 
Crown  during  the  latter  part  of  the  medieval  period.  Oppo- 
sition to  abuses  in  these  monopoly  grants  arose  towards  the 
end  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth ;  and  the  law  courts  decided  in 

1  7  Opinions  Attorney-General,  759. 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  INTEEIOR— H  209 

1602  that  monopolies  were  illegal,  except  when  granted  for  a 
reasonable  time  for  a  new  invention  or  new  trade.1  In  1623 
an  act  of  Parliament  concerning  monopolies  confirmed  this 
common  law  doctrine,  forbidding  all  grants  of  monopoly  except 
"letters  patent  and  grants  of  privilege— of  the  sole  working  or 
making  of  any  manner  of  new  manufacture  within  this  realm 
to  the  first  and  true  inventors/'2 

In  America  patents  were  first  granted  by  the  states.  But 
the  national  constitution  gave  Congress  the  power  "to  promote 
the  progress  of  science  and  the  useful  acts  of  securing  for  lim- 
ited times  to  authors  and  inventors  the  exclusive  right  to  their 
respective  writings  and  discoveries. "  And  since  a  national 
system  has  been  established  inventors  have  preferred  to  take 
advantage  of  the  broader  privileges  conferred  by  it  than  is 
possible  by  any  state  system. 

An  act  of  1790  provided  for  the  granting  of  patents  by  a 
board  consisting  of  the  secretaries  of  State  and  War  and  the 
Attorney-General ;  and  in  1793  another  patent  act  was  passed, 
which  committed  its  administration  to  the  Secretary  of  State 
and  the  Attorney-General. 

As  in  Great  Britain,  patents  were  granted  upon  application, 
without  investigation  as  to  the  novelty  or  utility  of  the  inven- 
tion, the  patentee  running  the  risk  of  having  the  grant  nullified 
on  proof  that  he  was  not  the  first  inventor.  Applications  for 
patents  increased  gradually;  and  in  1821  the  clerk  in  the 
department  of  State  having  charge  of  this  work  was  given  the 
title  of  superintendent  of  patents.  Up  to  1836  a  total  of  9,957 
patents  had  been  issued. 

In  that  year  another  act  relating  to  patents  was  passed,  mak- 
ing radical  changes  in  the  law  and  methods  of  administration 
and  establishing  the  system  in  almost  its  present  form.  A  spe- 
cial bureau  called  the  patent  office  was  now  established  in  the 
department  of  State,  with  a  commissioner  of  patents  in  charge. 
Patents  were  no  longer  to  be  granted  to  applicants  as  a  matter 

'Darcy  v.  Allin,  671  Noy,  673;  11  Coke,  86. 
2  21  Jac.  1,  c.  3. 
14 


210  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

of  course ;  but  the  new  bureau  was  to  issue  the  grant  only  after 
an  investigation  of  all  the  questions  on  which  its  validity 
might  depend.  The  investigation  of  the  patent  office  was  not 
made  conclusive,  in  the  face  of  subsequent  proof  of  prior  inven- 
tion; but  patents  granted  after  such  an  official  investigation 
could  be  reasonably  trusted,  and  were  much  more  secure  and 
valuable  than  those  under  the  former  law.  Patents  were 
granted,  as  before,  for  fourteen  years ;  but  provision  was  now 
made  for  an  extension  for  seven  years  additional  under  certain 
conditions.  Other  provisions  were  contained  in  the  act,  and 
some  amendments  were  made  during  the  next  few  years. 

On  the  creation  of  the  department  of  the  Interior  in  1849, 
the  patent  office  was  transferred  to  it.  L  1861  the  term  of  a 
patent  was  changed  to  seventeen  years,  nd  the  right  to  an 
extension  was  abolished.  In  1870  there  TT«,S  a  general  revision 
of  the  patent  law,  codifying  the  statutes  'then  in  force,  but 
making  no  substantial  changes.  This  wa£  confirmed  and  re- 
enacted  in  the  Revised  Statutes  of  1875;  and  with  minor 
amendments  constitutes  the  present  law. 

As  now  organized,  the  patent  office  consists  of  the  commis- 
sioner of  patents,  an  assistant  commission e  -,  a  board  of  exam- 
iners-in-chief  and  a  large  staff  of  examinr-j,  clerks,  draughts- 
men and  attendants.  The  commissioner  superintends  all 
operations  connected  with  the  issue  of  patents ;  has  power  to 
issue  regulations  for  the  conduct  of  proceedings  in  his  bureau 
and  has  charge  of  the  records,  apparatus  and  other  property 
belonging  to  the  bureau.  He  is  the  fmal  j;idge  so  far  as  the 
patent  office  is  concerned,  of  all  controverted  questions  arising 
in  the  administration  of  the  patents ;  and  the  decisions  of  the 
commissioner  form  an  important  part  of  rules  observed  by  the 
office. 

In  addition  to  the  formal  issuing  of  letters  patent  to  suc- 
cessful applicants,  the  patent  office  (1)  determines  whether  an 
alleged  invention  is  patentable;  (2)  settles  disputes  between 
rival  claimants  to  the  same  invention,  and  (3)  publishes  ex- 


THE  DEPABTMENT  OF  THE  INTEEIOK— II  211 

haustive  information  concerning  the  existing  state  of  the 
industrial  arts. 

Examination  of  applications  constitutes  the  heaviest  and  the 
most  important  part  of  the  work.  Over  50,000  applications 
are  now  filed  every  year ;  and  to  determine  in  each  case  whether 
the  alleged  invention  does  not  conflict  with  any  of  the  700,000 
patents  previously  issued  or  with  the  countless  number  of 
unpatented  articles  in  use  requires  a  large  body  of  skilled 
experts  and  a  thorough  systemization  of  labor.  For  this  inves- 
tigation the  whole  mass  of  material  products  has  been  divided 
into  about  two  hundred  classes;  and  these  classes  again  sub- 
divided into  divisions ;  and  each  division  is  assigned  to  exam- 
iners familiar  witl  products  assigned  to  it.  On  the  receipt  of 
an  application,  wit  the  necessary  description,  it  is  referred  to 
the  appropriate  exi  niner.  If  he  reports  the  invention  patent- 
able  and  no  rival  Claims,  the  patent  is  allowed;  if  he  reports 
adversely,  the  ap]  ^icant  may  restate  his  claim  (if  that  will 
meet  the  difficult;  ),  or  appeal,  first  to  the  higher  board  of 
examiners,  or  fina  ly  before  the  commissioner.  A  fee  of  $35 
must  be  paid  by  th  *.  applicant ;  and  the  revenue  from  fees  pays 
all  the  expenses  o*  the  office  and  leaves  a  balance  to  the  net 
income  of  the  trea  iry. 

When  rival  cla  nants  for  the  same  invention  appear,  an 
" interference"  is  declared.  In  such  cases  each  of  the  several 
claimants  is  notifitd  to  make  a  written  statement  under  oath, 
specifying  the  date  5  wlien  the  invention  was  conceived  and  per- 
fected by  him.  Tf  these  establish  the  priority  of  one,  the 
patent  is  issued  a  3coriingly ;  if  not,  further  hearings  must  be 
had  to  determine  the  facts. 

When  an  inventor,  engaged  in  perfecting  his  discovery, 
fears  that  some  one  else  may  apply  for  a  patent  on  the  same 
invention,  he  may  file  a  caveat  in  the  patent  office,  which 
secures  to  him  a  hearing  on  the  question  of  priority  before  a 
patent  issues  to  anyone  for  the  invention.  If  a  patent,  already 
granted,  is  defective  on  account  of  its  excessive  claims,  the 
mistake  may  be  remedied  by  filing  a  disclaimer.  When  a  pat- 


212  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

ent  fails  to  cover  any  part  of  an  invention,  owing  to  mistakes 
in  the  description  or  specifications,  it  may  be  surrendered  and 
a  new  one  issued. 

For  disseminating  information  to  the  public,  the  patent  office 
has  issued  since  1872  a  weekly  Official  Gazette,  containing  a 
list  of  patents  issued  during  the  previous  week,  with  abstracts 
of  specifications,  drawings  and  claims  and  the  names  of  pat- 
entees, also  decisions  of  the  commissioner  on  questions  of  prac- 
tice and  of  the  United  States  courts  on  matters  of  patent  law. 

Not  everything  new  is  an  invention ;  nor  is  every  invention 
patentable  under  the  present  law.  Patents  are  given  for  a 
"new  and  useful  art,  machine,  manufacture  or  composition  of 
matter,"  or  "any  new  and  useful  design"  for  a  manufacture 
or  to  be  worked  into  or  imprinted  on  a  manufacture.  The 
word  manufacture  is  held  to  mean  the  product  of  a  machine  or 
of  human  industry.  There  must  be  a  new  product,  not  simply 
an  old  product  made  better  or  more  rapidly.  The  term  ' '  com- 
position of  matter"  is  understood  to  include  all  compositions 
used  for  food  and  other  economics  of  life.  Improvements  on 
patented  machines  may  be  protected  by  patents. 

Patents  are  granted  only  to  an  original  inventor,  and  to  the 
first  inventor  in  this  country.  The  grant  consists  of  the  exclu- 
sive right  for  a  term  of  seventeen  years  to  make,  use  or  sell  the 
patented  invention,  and  the  exclusive  right  to  empower  others 
to  make  and  use  and  sell  it.  These  are  property  rights  and 
may  be  transferred  by  the  patentee,  either  singly  or  together. 

Redress  for  the  infringement  of  a  patent  may  be  sought  by 
an  action  for  damages  or  a  bill  in  equity  for  an  injunction,  the 
latter  being  now  the  most  common.  Original  jurisdiction  over 
such  proceedings  is  vested  in  the  Circuit  Courts  of  the  United 
States,  certain  Districts  courts  and  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
District  of  Columbia.1  Actions  against  the  government 
founded  upon  contracts  as  to  patents  are  brought  in  the  Court 
of  Claims. 

1  Eemsed  Statutes,  §§  571,  629,  1910 ;  94  U.  S.  780. 


THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR— II  213 

BUREAU  OF  EDUCATION1 

Educational  administration  within  the  states  is  under  the 
control  of  the  state  governments;  and  it  is  understood  that 
under  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  the  national  govern- 
ment has  no  authority,  either  to  establish  a  general  school 
system  throughout  the  country,  or  to  exercise  any  compulsory 
control  over  the  state  systems.  Nevertheless,  there  has  been 
established  a  bureau  of  education  in  the  national  administra- 
tion, although  its  functions  are  mainly  informational  and 
advisory. 

This  bureau  was  established  in  1867,  as  an  office  independent 
of  any  of  the  principal  executive  departments ;  but  two  years 
later  it  was  placed  under  the  department  of  the  Interior.  At 
the  head  of  the  bureau  is  a  commissioner  of  education,  ap- 
pointed by  the  President  and  Senate  at  the  moderate  salary  of 
$3,500  a  year.  Unlike  the  commissioner  in  charge  of  the 
bureaus  in  the  department  of  the  Interior  previously  consid- 
ered, the  commissioner  of  education  has  been  considered  a 
permanent  and  not  a  partisan  officer,  who  holds  his  position 
through  party  changes  in  the  presidency.  The  staff  of  the 
bureau  consists  of  a  collector  of  statistics,  three  specialists  in 
particular  branches  of  education,  and  a  small  force  of  clerks, 
copyists  and  laborers. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  commissioner  of  education  to  collect  and 
publish  statistics  and  facts  showing  the  condition  and  progress 
of  education  in  the  several  states  and  territories,  and  to  diffuse 
such  information  respecting  the  organization  and  management 
of  schools  and  school  systems  and  methods  of  teaching  as  will 
promote  the  development  of  efficient  school  systems  and  the 
cause  of  education  throughout  the  United  States.  He  is  also 
charged  with  the  administration  of  the  endowment  fund  for 
the  support  of  colleges  of  agriculture  and  the  mechanic  arts, 

1  Charles  Warren,  Answers  to  Inquiries  About  the  U.  S.  Bureau  of  Edu- 
cation, Its  Work  and  History  (1883)  ;  Annual  Statement  of  the  Commis- 
sioner of  Education  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  (1902)  ;  International 
Jbtfev,  14:284 


214  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

and  with  the  supervision  over 'education  in  Alaska.  In  the 
discharge  of  these  duties  a  voluminous  report  is  issued  each 
year  concerning  both  public  and  private  education  in  the 
United  State's  and  foreign  countries,  and  also  monographs  on 
special  educational  topics.  The  bureau  has  collected  one  of 
the  most  valuable  pedagogical  libraries  in  the  world ;  and  has 
been  called  a  sort  of  educational  clearing  house.  The  commis- 
sioner speaks  frequently  at  educational  meetings,  and  is  recog- 
nized as  one  of  the  educational  leaders  of  the  country ;  but  he 
has  no  authority  to  exercise  direct  control  over  the  state  systems 
of  education. 

Propositions  have  been  made  that  the  bureau  should  be 
established  as  a  separate  executive  department,  with  a  Secre- 
tary of  Education  in  the  President's  Cabinet.  But  with  the 
accepted  view  as  to  the  limits  of  the  national  authority  over 
education,  there  does  not  seem  to  be  an  adequate  basis  for  such 
a  change.  At  the  same  time  there  would  seem  to  be  no  good 
reason  why  the  commissioner  of  education  should  not  rank  in 
point  of  salary  with  the  commissioners  in  charge  of  the  other 
bureaus  in  the  department  of  the  Interior. 

THE  GEOLOGICAL  SURVEY 

A  highly  technical  scientific  service  is  that  of  the  geological 
survey.  Preceded  by  some  special  geological  investigations, 
the  present  service  was  established  in  1879  as  a  bureau  in  the 
department  of  the  Interior.  It  is  under  the  immediate  control 
of  a  director,  appointed  by  the  President  and  Senate.  This 
officer  makes  nominations  for  appointment  by  the  Secretary  of 
the  Interior,  as  geologists,  topographers,  engineers,  draftsmen 
and  other  members  of  the  regular  corps  of  the  survey ;  and  may 
also  make  some  temporary  appointments.  He  has  a  general 
charge  of  the  work,  and  makes  reports  of  the  operations  and 
finances  at  the  close  of  each  fiscal  year.  The  position  has  been 
filled  by  scientific  experts,  who  have  not  been  made  subject  to 
party  changes  in  the  administration. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  geological  survey  to  examine  the  geo- 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOK— II  215 

logical  structure,  mineral  resources  and  products  of  the 
national  domain,  and  the  survey  of  forest  reserves.  This  in- 
cludes the  preparation  of  topographic  and  geologic  maps;  the 
measurement  of  streams  and  the  determination  of  the  water 
supply  of  the  United  States  with  a  view  to  reclaiming  arid 
lands ;  and  the  engineering  operations  in  connection  with  irri- 
gation works  authorized  in  1902.  The  survey  is  on  the  one 
hand  a  bureau  of  research  in  abstract  and  theoretical  questions 
in  geology ;  and  on  the  other  hand  a  bureau  investigating  and 
publishing  facts  of  large  practical  economic  importance. 

As  a  foundation  for  the  more  strictly  geological  work,  the 
survey  has  undertaken,  in  cooperation  with  state  authorities, 
the  preparation  of  a  complete  topographic  map  of  the  United 
States.  About  900,000  square  miles,  thirty  per  cent,  of  the 
total  area  of  continental  United  States  (excluding  Alaska)  has 
been  mapped  and  published  in  sections. 

This  has  been  followed  by  work  on  geologic  maps,  showing 
the  surface  geology,  and  minerals  of  economic  value,  with  cross 
sections  showing  sub-surface  conditions.  With  these  maps  are 
published  reports  on  the  same  areas,  the  whole  furnishing 
information  of  great  value  to  geologists,  mining  engineers  and 
land  owners.  Similar  investigations  and  reports  have  been 
made  on  the  water  resources  of  the  country.  In  all  of  this 
work,  the  policy  of  the  survey  has  been  to  deal  for  the  most 
part  with  the  broader  inter-state  problems,  leaving  more 
detailed  economic  work  to  the  state  surveys.  Physical,  chem- 
ical, lithological  and  paleontological  laboratories  are  estab- 
lished in  the  bureau  for  assisting  in  the  field  surveys  and  carry- 
ing on  research  investigations  in  special  problems,  such  as 
determining  the  best  materials  for  highway  construction. 

To  carry  out  the  irrigation  works  in  the  arid  regions  of  the 
west,  recently  authorized,  a  special  corps  of  engineers,  known 
as  the  reclamation  service,  has  been  established. 

In  addition  to  the  reports  of  the  various  scientific  investiga- 
tions the  bureau  prepares  and  publishes  an  annual  report  of 
the  mineral  products  of  the  United  States. 


216  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTBATION 

THE  TERRITORIES 

Over  some  parts  of  the  area  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
national  government,  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  exercises  a 
supervision  of  the  internal  and  local  government  analogous  in 
a  slight  degree  to  the  control  of  a  European  minister  of  the 
interior.  The  districts  to  which  this  supervision  applies  are 
known  as  the  territories  of  the  United  States.  They  are  dis- 
tinguished on  the  one  hand  from  the  states ;  and  on  the  other 
hand  from  the  dependencies  in  the  Western  Pacific  ocean, 
whose  civil  administration  is  under  the  supervision  of  the 
department  of  War. 

At  the  present  time  this  supervision  extends  only  to  the 
District  of  Columbia  and  the  territories  of  Arizona,  New  Mex- 
ico, Oklahoma,  Alaska,  the  Hawaiian  Islands  and  Porto  Rico, 
besides  the  Indian  reservations  previously  noted.  These  com- 
prise about  one-fourth  of  the  total  area  of  the  United  States 
(excluding  the  Philippine  Islands),  but  with  a  total  popula- 
tion of  only  a  little  over  two  millions.  Most  of  the  states  have, 
however,  passed  through  the  stage  of  government  as  a  territory, 
and  a  short  account  of  this  form  of  government  is  important 
not  only  in  reference  to  the  regions  to  which  it  now  applies, 
but  also  as  a  step  in  the  development  of  state  governments. 

Over  the  area  of  the  United  States  not  organized  as  states 
the  national  government  has,  in  addition  to  the  powers  it  exer- 
cises within  the  states,  all  the  powers  of  government  except  as 
restricted  by  the  national  constitution.  In  the  case  of  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia  and  government  property  owned  as  sites  for 
national  buildings  and  works,  the  constitution  specifically  au- 
thorizes Congress  "to  exercise  exclusive  legislation  in  all  cases 
whatsoever/'1  But  for  other  regions  the  only  basis  in  the 
constitution  for  the  authority  exercised  is  the  clause  that  Con- 
gress "shall  have  power  to  dispose  of  and  make  all  needful 
rules  and  regulations  respecting  the  territory  or  other  prop- 
erty belonging  to  the  United  States. '  '2  The  power  of  Congress 

1  Article  I,  §  8. 

2  Article  IV,  §  3. 


THE  DEPARTMENT   OF  THE  INTERIOR— II  217 

over  the  territories  has,  however,  been  repeatedly  affirmed  by 
the  Supreme  Court.1 

Before  the  adoption  of  the  constitution  the  Congress  of  the 
Confederation  had  provided,  in  the  ordinances  of  1784  and 
1787,  for  the  government  of  the  territory  northwest  of  the  Ohio 
river.  The  Northwest  Ordinance  was  confirmed  with  minor 
changes  by  the  new  Congress  in  1789,  and  a  system  similar  in 
most  respects  enacted  for  the  territory  south  of  the  Ohio  river 
in  1796.  These  measures  provided  for  the  appointment  by  the 
President  and  Senate  of  governors  and  territorial  judges,  who 
should  act  also  for  a  time  as  the  local  legislative  authority. 
But  it  was  further  provided  that  when  a  given  population  was 
reached,  there  should  be  locally  elected  legislatures ;  while  ulti- 
mately the  territories  were  to  become  states,  with  control  over 
their  own  constitutions. 

This  system  of  territorial  government  was  afterwards  ex- 
tended to  the  region  covered  by  the  Louisiana  purchase, 
Florida,  the  Oregon  country,  and  part  of  the  Mexican  cession. 
It  never  applied  to  the  thirteen  original  states,  nor  to  Ver- 
mont, Kentucky,  Texas,  California  and  West  Virginia.  With 
these  exceptions  all  of  the  area  of  continental  United  States  has 
been  at  some  time  governed  under  the  territorial  system. 
From  time  to  time  the  number  and  boundaries  of  territories 
have  been  changed,  as  population  increased  and  new  states 
were  created  and  admitted  to  the  Union. 

At  the  present  time  the  territories  of  Oklahoma,  Arizona, 
New  Mexico  and  the  Hawaiian  Islands  have  similar  forms  of 
government.  Each  has  a  governor  appointed  for  a  term  of 
four  years  by  the  President  and  Senate,  who  is  the, chief  execu- 
tive and  also  the  representative  of  the  national  authority,  hav- 
ing an  absolute  veto  on  all  the  acts  of  the  territorial  legislature. 
Formerly  these  governors  were  often  sent  out  from  the  older 
states;  but  it  is  now  customary  to  appoint  residents  of  the 
territories.  Each  has  also  a  secretary,  appointed  by  the  Presi- 
dent and  Senate,  and  other  administrative  officers  usually  pro- 
*1  Peters,  542;  16  Howard,  164;  101  U.  S.  129;  137  U.  S.  202, 


218  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

vided  for  by  territorial  legislation.  Still  further,  each  of  these 
has  a  number  of  territorial  judges,  appointed  by  the  President 
and  Senate,  who  are  not  part  of  the  national  judiciary,  but 
have  jurisdiction  similar  to  that  of  the  state  judges,  and  who 
may  be  removed  from  office  by  the  President. 

A  locally  elected  legislature  in  each  of  this  group  of  terri- 
tories enacts*  legislation  in  accordance  with  specific  grants  of 
power  from  Congress.  This  includes  the  power  to  organize 
local  governments,  and  authorize  them  to  levy  taxes  for  local 
purposes,  and  to  establish  an  educational  system  and  various 
penal  and  charitable  institutions.  But  all  of  the  acts  of  a  ter- 
ritorial legislature  must  be  approved  by  the  governor,  while 
any  statute  may  be  annulled  by  act  of  Congress.  Each  of  these 
territories  sends  a  delegate  to  the  House  of  Representatives, 
who  has  a  seat,  salary  and  the  right  to  speak,  but  not  the  right 
to  vote. 

In  Porto  Rico,  the  territorial  government,  established  in 
1900,  is  somewhat  different.  Not  only  the  governor  and  secre- 
tary, but  also  a  commissioner  of  the  interior  and  a  commis- 
sioner of  education,  are  appointed  by  the  President ;  and  all  of 
these  are  sent  out  from  the  mainland.  These  executive  officers 
are  also  members  of  the  upper  house  of  the  legislature ;  and  a 
majority  of  the  members  of  the  upper  house  are  appointed  by 
the  President. 

Alaska  has  a  governor,  secretary  and  judges,  as  in  the  terri- 
tories just  noted;  but  many  administrative  duties  are  per- 
formed by  the  judges  and  clerks  of  courts,  and  there  is  no  local 
legislative  body,  the  statutes  for  this  territory  being  enacted 
directly  by  Congress. 

The  District  of  Columbia  was  at  one  time  organized  as  a 
territory,  but  now  has  a  special  form  of  municipal  government. 
Judges  and  various  commissioners  and  administrative  officers 
are  appointed  by  the  President,  while  local  legislation  is  passed 
by  Congress,  which  also  provides  a  large  part  of  the  revenue 
for  the  local  government. 

National  control  over  the   territories  has   been   exercised 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  THE  INTERIOR— II  219 

mainly  by  congressional  legislation  and  presidential  appoint- 
ment of  local  officials.  Formerly  these  officials  were  classified 
under  the  department  of  State;  but  that  department  did  not 
exercise  any  active  control.  They  are  now  classified  under  the 
department  of  the  Interior ;  and  the  governors  of  the  territories 
and  some  of  the  local  officials  in  the  District  of  Columbia1  make 
annual  reports  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  There  is,  how- 
ever, no  special  bureau  in  the  department  offices  at  Washing- 
ton charged  with  these  matters;  and  it  is  evident  that  the 
supervision  of  the  local  officials  is  merely  nominal. 

In  conclusion,  mention  must  be  made  of  some  minor  and 
miscellaneous  offices  and  institutions  under  the  general  super- 
vision of  the  department  of  the  Interior.  A  number  of  these 
are  in  Washington :  the  superintendent  of  the  Capitol  building 
and  grounds,  the  Government  hospital  for  the  insane,  the 
Freedmen's  hospital  and  Howard  university.  The  civilian 
employees  in  the  national  park  reservations  are  also  classed 
under  this  department.2 

1  Columbia  Institution  for  the  Deaf  and  Dumb,  Begister  of  Deeds  and 
Register  of  Wills. 

2  Yellowstone  park  in  Wyoming ;  Yosemite,  General  Grant  and  Sequoia 
parks  in  California ;  Mt.  Ranier  park,  Washington ;  Crater  Lake  park,  Ore- 
gon; Wind  Cave  park,  South  Dakota;  Hot  Springs  Reservations,  Arkan- 
sas, and  Rock  Creek  park,  District  of  Columbia. 


CHAPTER   XV 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  AGRICULTURE 

References. — C.  H.  GEEATHOUSE:  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Department 
of  Agriculture,  in  Year  Book  of  the  Department  for  1897. — Ameri- 
can Law  Review,  30:787.— Nature,  64:372.— Science,  9:199;  13:321. 
— National  Geographical  Magazine,  14:35. 

WEATHER  BUREAU 

Popular  Science  Monthly,  53:307.— Forum,  25:341.— Living  Age, 
224:579.— Engineering  Magazine,  1:772. — Chautauquan,  14:291. 

WHILE  the  title  of  the  department  of  Agriculture  indicates 
what  is  perhaps  the  most  important  field  of  its  activities,  its 
functions  have  been  extended  to  include  the  whole  range  of 
rural  industry,  and  some  branches  of  administration  only  very 
indirectly  related  to  agricultural  interests. 

It  is  but  a  few  years  since  the  department  was  organized  as 
one  of  the  principal  executive  departments ;  but  its  beginnings 
can  be  traced  from  an  earlier  time.  Even  during  the  colonial 
period  there  were  some  desultory  instances  of  government  aid 
and  encouragement  to  agriculture,  both  by  the  colonial  au- 
thorities and  the  British  Parliament.  Soon  after  the  national 
government  was  organized  some  attempts  were  made  to  estab- 
lish a  board  of  agriculture ;  but  neither  the  first  proposal  in 
1796  nor  a  second  effort  in  1817  were  successful.  Some  of  the 
United  States  consuls  introduced,  on  their  own  initiative,  some 
new  plants  and  new  breeds  of  animals ;  and  a  few  special  re- 
ports on  agricultural  topics  were  published  as  congressional 
documents-  But  no  systematic  work  was  done  and  no  official 
organization  established  for  fifty  years  after  the  adoption  of 
the  constitution. 


THE  DEPAKTMENT  OF  AGEICULTUEE  221 

In  1836  the  commissioner  of  patents— H.  L.  Ellsworth- 
began  the  distribution  of  considerable  quantities  of  seeds  and 
plants  received  from  various  government  representatives  in 
foreign  countries ;  and  three  years  later  through  his  influence 
an  appropriation  of  $1,000  was  made  for  the  purpose  of  pro- 
curing and  distributing  seeds  of  new  plants,  carrying  on  agri- 
cultural investigations  and  collecting  agricultural  statistics. 
This  work  was  performed  directly  under  the  commissioner  of 
patents,  then  an  officer  in  the  department  of  State.  By  1841 
some  30,000  packages  of  seeds  were  distributed,  and  agricul- 
tural statistics,  gathered  in  the  fifth  census,  were  published  in 
1842.  Both  the  distribution  of  seeds  and  the  publication  of 
agricultural  statistics  and  reports  were  continued  from  this 
time.  In  1849,  when  the.  patent  office  was  transferred  to  the 
department  of  the  Interior,  there  appears  in  the  official  register 
a  collector  of  agricultural  statistics,  the  first  officer  especially 
assigned  to  this  work ;  and  after  1857  there  is  a  small  force  of 
clerks  in  the  section  of  agriculture  in  the  patent  office. 

A  more  important  step  was  taken  in  1862,  when  there  was 
established  a  "department"  of  agriculture,  independent  of  the 
executive  departments,  and  ranking  rather  as  a  bureau  with  a 
commissioner  in  charge.  Isaac  Newton,  then  chief  of  the  agri- 
cultural section  in  the  patent  office,  was  appointed  as  the  first 
commissioner  of  agriculture.  Other  officers  provided  included 
a  statistician,  a  chemist,  an  entomologist,  and  a  superintendent 
of  the  propagating  garden  and  experimental  farm,  their  titles 
serving  to  indicate  in  a  general  way  the  character  of  the  work 
done  by  the  new  department. 

From  this  time  additions  were  steadily  made  to  the  functions 
of  the  department  and  new  offices  were  established  to  meet  these 
conditions.  In  1868  a  botanist  was  appointed,  and  in  1871  a 
microscopist.  In  1877  a  forestry  division  was  created.  A  year 
later  a  special  investigation  into  animal  diseases  was  begun; 
and  in  1884  a  special  bureau  of  animal  industry  was  established 
to  carry  on  this  work.  In  1887  agricultural  experiment 
stations  throughout  the  country  were  first  established ;  and  at 


222  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

the  same  time  new  scientific  divisions  in  pomology,  ornithology 
and  mammalogy  were  formed.  Meanwhile,  too,  the  activity  of 
the  older  divisions  had  steadily  increased. 

In  1889  the  department  of  Agriculture  was  raised  to  the  rank 
of  an  executive  department ;  and  its  principal  official  became 
the  Secretary  of  Agriculture,  who  is  given  a  seat  in  the  Presi- 
dent 's  Cabinet.  At  that  time  there  were  no  important  changes 
in  the  internal  organization  or  functions  of  the  department; 
but  since  then  further  additions  have  been  made.  In  1890  the 
inspection  of  exported  cattle  was  begun;  in  1891  the  weather 
bureau  was  transferred  from  the  department  of  War  to  the 
department  of  Agriculture ;  in  1892  experiments  in  irrigation 
were  commenced ;  in  1893  a  road  inquiry  office  was  established, 
in  1894  a  division  of  soils,  and  in  1895  a  division  of  agrostology. 
More  recently  there  has  been  some  readjustment  and  reorgani- 
zation of  the  various  branches  of  the  department  with  the 
expansion  of  their  activities. 

Before  the  change  in  the  rank  of  the  department  in  1889,  its 
chief  officer,  the  commissioner  of  agriculture,  had  direct  super- 
vision of  the  scientific  work  of  the  department,  and  was  usually 
qualified  for  this  function;  although  political  considerations 
had  some  weight  in  making  appointments,  and  changes  were 
usually  made  in  each  presidential  term.  Since  the  head  of  the 
department  has  become  a  secretary  in  the  President's  Cabinet 
the  political  character  of  the  office  has  been  more  emphasized. 
The  Secretary  of  Agriculture  has  for  the  most  part  confined 
himself  to  executive  duties ;  while  the  immediate  supervision  of 
the  technical  scientific  investigations  has  been  exercised  by  the 
assistant  secretary. 

The  functions  of  the  central  offices  of  the  department  consist 
simply  of  general  supervision  over  the  various  subordinate 
offices ;  and  it  is  by  an  examination  of  the  latter  that  the  work 
of  the  department  as  a  whole  can  best  be  learned.  The  most 
important  of  these  subordinate  offices  are  classed  as  bureaus, 
while  others  are  known  as  divisions  or  simply  as  offices.  In  the 
various  bureaus  and  other  offices  of  this  department,  not  only 


THE  DEPAETMENT   OF  AGEICULTUEE  223 

are  the  subordinate  positions  governed  by  the  civil  service 
rules,  but  the  bureau  and  division  chiefs  have  also  been  perma- 
nent officers,  not  affected  by  political  changes  in  the  adminis- 
trative svj&tem. 

Significant  features  in  the  work  of  the  department  are  the 
emphasis  on  scientific  methods  and  the  almost  complete  absence 
of  compulsory  powers.  Most  of  the  subdivisions  consist 
mainly  of  a  small  force  of  technical  experts  at  Washington,  and 
perhaps  a  few  special  agents  in  the  field ;  and  only  two  bureaus 
have  an  elaborate  system  of  local  agents  throughout  the  coun- 
try. Only  the  bureau  of  animal  industry  has  authority  to 
require  private  citizens  to  obey  its  orders,  and  that  only  in 
reference  to  inter-state  and  foreign  commerce.  In  all  other 
lines  the  results  of  the  work  of  the  department  are  simply 
offered  to  those  who  wish  to  use  it. 

This  situation  is  doubtless  due  in  the  main  to  the  fact  that 
there  has  been  no  demand  for  restrictive  measures  regulating 
agricultural  interests ;  but  it  may  also  be  due  in  part  to  doubt 
as  to  the  constitutional  authority  of  the  national  government  to 
deal  with  agricultural  questions  not  directly  related  to  inter- 
state or  foreign  commerce.  It  has  been  maintained  that  much 
of  the  work  now  undertaken  would  not  stand  the  test  of  the 
courts  j1  but  no  such  test  has  been  applied,  and  it  would  seem 
that  the  present  methods  are  now  firmly  established. 

The  Weather  Bureau.— In  1863  the  department  of  Agricul- 
ture began  the  publication  of  meteorological  data  gathered  by 
the  Smithsonian  Institution.  On  the  recommendation  of  the 
commissioner  of  agriculture  a  service  of  daily  weather  reports 
was  authorized  by  Congress  in  1870,  conducted  by  the  chief 
signal  officer  of  the  army.  In  1891  this  weather  service  was 
transferred  from  the  department  of  War  to  the  department  of 
Agriculture,  and  organized  as  a  special  bureau. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  weather  bureau  to  record  the  climatic 
and  meteorological  conditions  and  to  gauge  the  principal 
rivers  throughout  the  United  States;  to  prepare  and  dis- 
1  American  Law  Review,  30 : 787. 


224  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTBATION 

tribute  weather  reports;  and  to  issue  foreasts  of  weather 
changes  and  floods,  for  the  benefit  of  agriculture,  commerce 
and  navigation.  In  connection  with  these  duties  it  performs 
a  continuous  scientific  investigation  into  the  conditions  and 
causes  of  meteorological  changes,  for  the  purpose  of  increasing 
the  reliability  and  range  of  its  forecasts. 

To  carry  on  this  work  the  bureau  has  a  large  number  of  local 
agencies.  There  are  about  200  stations,  fully  equipped  for 
making  complete  records,  throughout  the  United  States  and  at 
various  points  in  the  Caribbean  Sea.  There  are  also  many 
other  stations  where  records  of  temperature  and  rainfall  are 
made;  and  over  3,000  posts  where  voluntary  observers  make 
and  report  observations  of  temperature  and  rainfall  with 
standard  instruments.  Records  of  local  observations  taken  at 
the  same  time  are  telegraphed  to  Washington  and  various 
district  centers ;  and  are  the  basis  for  reports  and  forecasts  for 
different  sections  of  the  country.  For  the  most  part  private 
telegraph  lines  are  used  for  transmitting  reports;  but  over 
400  miles  of  telegraph  and  cable  lines  have  been  constructed 
by  the  bureau  to  special  points. 

For  the  distribution  to  the  public  of  the  weather  reports  and 
forecasts,  the  bureau  has  250  stations  for  the  display  of  storm 
and  cold  wave  warnings ;  while  over  2,000  places  receive  fore- 
casts daily  by  telegraph  or  telephone  at  government  expense, 
and  more  than  200,000  forecasts  are  issued  daily  by  telephone, 
telegraph  and  mail  without  expense  to  the  government. 

Special  services  have  charge  of  the  gauging  of  rivers  in  time 
of  floods  and  climatic  and  crop  reports  in  the  agricultural 
regions. 

At  the  central  office  of  the  bureau  in  Washington  there  are 
various  divisions  corresponding  to  the  different  branches  of 
work,  with  other  divisions  having  charge  of  scientific  research, 
the  publication  of  records,  the  purchase  of  supplies,  and  ac- 
counts. The  total  paid  force  connected  with  the  bureau  is 
about  1,400 ;  while  there  are  also  over  3,000  voluntary  weather 
observers  and  14,000  voluntary  crop  correspondents. 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  AGEICULTUEE 


225 


The  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry  has  for  its  principal  object 
the  suppression  of  dangerous  communicable  diseases  in  live 
stock,  particularly  in  connection  with  the  foreign  trade.  It 
makes  investigations  as  to  the  existence  of  such  diseases, 
through  a  system  of  inspection,  both  of  live  stock  and  their 
products,  at  the  principal  slaughtering  centers  in  the  United 
States  and  at  import  and  export  points.1  Its  examinations 
include  that  of  vessels  for  the  transportation  of  export  animals 
and  of  quarantine  stations  for  imported  live  stock.  The 
bureau  further  carries  on  a  continuous  scientific  research  into 
the  nature,  causes  and  prevention  of  various  communicable 
diseases.  It  also  superintends  the  measures  for  extirpating 
such  diseases,  not  only  by  condemning  diseased  animals,  but  by 
controlling  the  inter-state  movement  of  live  stock.  Among  the 
important  results  of  the  bureau 's  work  have  been  the  suppres- 
sion of  a  serious  epidemic  of  pleuro-pneumonia  in  cattle  in  the 
early  nineties  and  the  control  of  Texas  fever. 

More  recently  the  bureau  has  been  given  special  duties  in 
relation  to  dairy  products.  It  inspects  the  manufacture  of 
renovated  butter,  supervises  its  inter-state  commerce,  and  in- 
spects dairy  products  for  export. 

Since  its  establishment,  twenty  years  ago,  the  bureau  has 
been  in  charge  of  the  same  chief,  Mr.  D.  E.  Salmon. 

The  Bureau  of  Plant  Industry  has  recently  been  formed  by 
grouping  together  a  number  of  separate  divisions.  Most  of 
these  divisions  are  engaged  in  strictly  scientific  experimental 
investigations,  carried  on  for  the  most  part  in  Washington; 

1  INSPECTIONS  FOR  THE  YEAE  ENDING  JUNE  30, 1903 


ANTE  1 

dORTEM 

POST  Ik 

[OBTEM 

Total 
Inspections 

Rejected 

Total 
Inspections 

Condemned 

Cattle  

11,988,760 

41,560 

6,165,890 

14,605 

Sheep  

14  654,249 

17.887 

8  598,175 

15  233 

Calves               . 

1  041  138 

5  542 

670  173 

1  629 

31,546,222 

61,297 

21,827,047 

46994 

Horses            

344 

344 

11 

Total                  .    . 

59  230  713 

125  886 

37  °61  629 

78  472 

15 


226  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

and  there  is  no  large  list  of  local  agents  in  different  parts  of 
the  country. 

Oldest  among  these  divisions  is  that  which  continues  the 
work  of  seed  distribution,  which  was  the  origin  of  the  depart- 
ment of  Agriculture.  But  this  is  no  longer  a  means  of  intro- 
ducing new  varieties  of  plants  or  promoting  the  development 
of  agriculture.  Something  like  40,000,000  packets  of  miscel- 
laneous garden  and  flower  seeds  are  distributed,  on  orders  of 
members  of  Congress  to  their  constituents ;  and  the  work  of  the 
bureau  consists  in  purchasing  the  seeds  in  bulk  in  the  open 
market,  contracting  for  putting  them  up  in  small  packets,  and 
carrying  out  the  mechanical  work  of  distribution.  There  have 
been  many  attempts  by  the  Secretaries  of  Agriculture  to  aban- 
don this  work,  but  Congress  insists  on  its  continuation. 

Another  division  has  charge  of  the  collection  and  distribu- 
tion of  seeds  and  plants  of  new  and  valuable  agricultural 
crops  adapted  to  different  parts  of  the  United  States. 

Four  branches  of  the  bureau  investigate  special  phases  of 
plant  life  in  relation  to  agriculture.  One  deals  with  vegetable 
pathology  and  physiology,  studying  diseases  of  agricultural 
crops  and  economic  plants,  nutrition  of  plants,  rotation  of 
crops,  and  problems  of  crop  improvement  by  means  of  breeding 
and  selection.  Another  has  charge  of  botanical  problems,  in- 
cluding the  purity  and  value  of  seeds,  methods  of  controlling 
the  introduction  and  spread  of  weeds,  and  the  injurious  effects 
and  antidotes  in  case  of  poisonous  plants.  A  third  investi- 
gates the  natural  history,  geographical  distribution,  methods 
of  cultivation  and  uses  of  grasses  and  forage  plants,  and  their 
adaptation  to  various  soils  and  climates,  introducing  promising 
varieties.  And  the  fourth  deals  with  pomological  investiga- 
tions, studying  the  habits  and  qualities  of  different  fruits,  their 
adaptability  to  various  soils  and  climates  and  conditions  of  cul- 
ture, and  the  methods  of  harvesting,  handling  and  storing 
fruits. 

Several  subdivisions  of  the  bureau  have  charge  of  the  experi- 
mental gardens  and  farms  operated  in  connection  with  the 


THE  DEPAKTMENT  OF  AGEICULTUEE  227 

scientific  investigations.  One  has  control  of  the  grounds 
around  the  department  buildings,  including  their  general  care 
and  ornamentation,  the  management  of  the  conservatories,  and 
investigations  in  relation  to  the  culture  of  plants  under  glass 
and  intensive  horticulture.  An  experimental  farm  has  been 
established  at  Arlington,  Va.,  designed  to  become  an  adjunct 
to  all  branches  of  the  department.  And  experiments  in  tea 
culture  are  being  carried  on  at  Summerville,  S.  C.,  and  Pierce, 
Texas. 

The  Bureau  of  Forestry  has  for  its  main  duty  to  promote 
the  greatest  permanent  usefulness  of  the  forest  interests  of  the 
United  States.  It  carries  on  scientific  investigations  as  to  the 
methods  of  forest  management,  studies  the  special  uses  and 
adaptability  of  commercially  valuable  trees,  and  tests  the 
strength  and  durability  of  construction  timbers.  It  also  gives 
practical  advice  to  lumbermen  and  owners  of  forest  lands  as 
to  the  conservative  handling  and  extension  of  forests ;  and,  at 
the  request  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior,  it  makes  plans  for 
the  management  of  the  national  forest  reserves.  The  distri- 
bution of  forest  work  among  several  bureaus  in  separate 
departments  is  not  conducive  to  the  most  effective  results ;  and 
it  is  proposed  to  unite  all  of  the  forestry  service  in  this  bureau. 

The  Bureau  of  Chemistry  maintains  a  series  of  laboratories 
for  investigating  the  chemical  composition  of  fertilizers,  agri- 
cultural products,  foods,  drugs  and  other  articles.  Its  prin- 
cipal independent  work  has  been  in  discovering  food  adultera- 
tions and  experimenting  to  ascertain  the  effects  of  various 
food  preservatives.  It  also  cooperates  with  the  other  bureaus 
of  the  department  and  with  the  other  executive  departments  in 
making  chemical  analyses  covering  a  wide  range  of  subjects. 

The  Bureau  of  Soils  has  charge  of  investigating  the  prop- 
erties of  different  soils  and  determining  their  relation  to  crop 
production.  It  is  engaged  in  making  an  extensive  soil  survey 
over  the  country  and  mapping  the  results;  and  carrying  on 
physical  and  chemical  investigations  in  its  laboratories.  Spe- 


228  THB  NATIONAL  ADMINISTBATION 

cial  attention  has  been  given  to  the  reclamation  of  alkali  lands 
and  the  cultivation,  curing  and  fermentation  of  tobacco. 

The  Bureau  of  Statistics  includes  the  former  division  of  sta- 
tistics and  the  division  of  foreign  markets.  The  first  of  these 
collects  data  as  to  the  production  of  crops  and  farm  animals, 
through  a  corps  of  county  and  township  correspondents,  trav- 
eling agents  and  other  sources;  and  gathers  similar  informa- 
tion from  foreign  countries  through  special  agents,  consuls, 
and  agricultural  and  commercial  authorities.  It  tabulates  and 
coordinates  the  statistics  collected  from  various  sources,  and 
issues  a  monthly  crop  report. 

It  is  the  object  of  the  division  of  foreign  markets  to  promote 
the  extension  of  the  agricultural  export  trade  of  the  United 
States.  This  it  does  by  collecting  and  publishing  the  records 
of  the  production,  importation  and  exportation  of  farm  and 
forest  products  in  different  countries,  investigating  the  condi- 
tions of  demand  and  supply,  the  requirements  of  foreign  mar- 
kets and  the  obstacles  to  trade  extension. 

The  Division  of  Entomology  carries  on  investigations  in 
reference  to  insects  injurious  to  agricultural  plants,  makes 
experiments  to  discover  the  best  methods  of  suppressing  inju- 
rious insects,  and  publishes  and  disseminates  information  on 
these  points  for  the  benefit  of  the  agricultural  interests.  It 
has  also  conducted  investigations  with  a  view  of  introducing 
silk  worms  into  the  United  States  and  developing  bee  culture. 

The  Division  of  Biological  Survey  has  charge  of  three  dis- 
tinct lines  of  investigation :  mapping  the  boundaries  of  natural 
life  and  crop  zones  of  the  country,  with  a  view  to  determining 
the  agricultural  products  suitable  to  different  climatic  condi- 
tions; studying  the  economic  relations  of  birds  to  agriculture 
and  horticulture,  so  as  to  determine  what  birds  are  useful  and 
what  are  injurious ;  and  the  preservation  and  introduction  of 
game,  including  supervision  over  the  importation  of  foreign 
birds,  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  undesirable  species. 

The  Office  of  Experiment  Stations  has  charge  of  the  relations 
of  the  department  to  the  experiment  stations  connected  with 


THE  DEPAETMENT  OF  AGEICULTUEE  229 

the  state  and  territorial  agricultural  colleges ;  it  directly  man- 
ages agricultural  experiment  stations  in  Alaska,  Hawaii  and 
Porto  Rico;  and  it  carries  on  special  investigations  on  the 
nutritive  value  of  human  foods  and  on  irrigation  engineering. 
It  collects  and  publishes  general  information  about  the  local 
institutions,  indicates  to  them  special  lines  of  investigation, 
and  aids  in  the  conduct  of  cooperative  experiments. 

The  Office  of  Public  Road  Inquiries  has  for  its  purpose  to 
promote  the  improvement  of  public  highways  throughout  the 
United  States.  It  collects  information  about  systems  of  road 
management ;  it  conducts  and  promotes  investigations  and  ex- 
periments as  to  the  best  methods  of  road  building ;  it  cooper- 
ates with  the  bureau  of  chemistry  in  testing  and  studying  the 
chemical  and  physical  properties  of  road  materials ;  it  prepares 
publications  to  disseminate  information  on  the  subject  of  road 
making ;  and  it  advises  and  assists  local  authorities  in  the  con- 
struction of  experimental  or  illustrative  sections  of  improved 
roads. 

There  remain  a  few  other  branches  of  the  department,  which 
are  in  the  main  auxiliary  to  those  already  noted.  The  division 
of  publication  edits  the  various  documents  (except  those  of  the 
weather  bureau)  supervises  their  printing,  and  has  charge  of 
their  distribution.  The  division  of  accounts  and  disburse- 
ments deals  with  the  expenditures  and  financial  interests  of 
the  department.  The  Library  consists  of  over  80,000  volumes, 
bearing  on  agricultural  questions  and  the  work  of  the  various 
bureaus  and  divisions  in  the  department. 


CHAPTER   XVI 

THE  DEPARTMENT  OF  COMMERCE  AND  LABOR 

References. — Annals  Amer.  Acad.  Soc.  and  Pol.  Sci.,  24:1. — World's 
WorTc,  5:3334. — Independent,  52:412. — Act  of  February  14,  1903. — 
Eeports  of  Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor;  CARROLL  D. 
WRIGHT  :  The  Working  of  the  Department  of  Labor. 

BUREAU  OF  THE  CENSUS 

CARROLL  D.  WRIGHT:  History  of  the  Census. — Political  Science  Quar- 
terly, 1:107;  5:259;  11:589. — Publications  of  the  American  Economic 
Association,  New  Series,  No.  2. — American  Statistical  Association,  1:71. 
— North  American  Review,  170:99. — Century,  43:831;  44:712. — Forum, 
30:109. 

BUREAU  OF  NAVIGATION 

J.  D.  J.  KELLY:  The  Question  of  Ships. — W.  W.  BATES:  American 
Navigation. — W.  L.  BATES:  The  American  Merchant  Marine. — North 
American  Review,  125:544;  158:433;  175:829;  176:490. — American 
Journal  of  Social  Science,  9 : 101. — New  Jersey  Law  Journal,  9 : 82. 

LIGHTHOUSE  ESTABLISHMENT 

A.  B.  JOHNSON:  The  Modern  Lighthouse  Service. — Gassier 's  Maga- 
zine, 6:297. — Century,  32:219. — American  Catholic  Quarterly,  17:413, 
644,  873.— Overland,  n.  s.  33:312. 

COAST  AND  GEODETIC  SURVEY 

Science,  7:2,  460;  8:359;  12:50;  18:33.— Eel.  Engineering,  35:38.— 
National  Geographical  Magazine,  14:1. 

BUREAU  OF  FISHERIES 

Harper's  Monthly,  49:213. — North  American  Review,  176:593. — 
Science,  12:219;  18:476. 

BUREAU  OF  IMMIGRATION 

EICHMOND  MAYO-SMITH:  Emigration  and  Immigration. — Political 
Science  Quarterly,  3:46,  197,  409;  4:480;  7:232;  19:32.— North  Ameri- 
can Review,  40:457;  163:252;  165:393;  175:53;  178:558;  179:226,  263. 
Atlantic  Monthly,  75:345;  77:822;  86:535. — Forum,  30:555. — Annals 
Amer.  Acad.  Soc.  and  Pol.  Sci.,  24:169. — World's  Work,  1:381. — Cath- 
olic World,  71:110. 

230 


COMMEECE  AND  LABOE  231 

LAST  to  be  established  among  the  principal  executive  depart- 
ments of  the  national  administration  is  the  department  of 
Commerce  and  Labor,  authorized  by  act  of  February  14,  1903, 
and  brought  into  active  existence  on  July  1  of  that  year.  It 
must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  this  was  the  first  step  in 
establishing  national  administrative  control  in  this  field.  One 
of  the  most  important  powers  of  the  United  States  government 
is  the  regulation  of  inter-state  and  foreign  commerce ;  and  from 
the  beginning  of  the  government  under  the  constitution  acts  of 
Congress  have  been  passed  in  reference  to  these  matters,  and 
special  officers  provided  for  administering  these  statutes.  As 
the  result  of  many  of  such  acts  a  great  variety  of  administra- 
tive bureaus  with  a  host  of  officials  and  agents  had  been  devel- 
oped. But  these  various  bureaus  and  officials  were  not  organ- 
ized into  any  administrative  system;  they  were  scattered 
through  the  different  departments,  and  in  some  cases  outside 
of  all  of  the  departments,  without  any  unifying  relation.  By 
the  creation  of  the  department  of  Commerce  and  Labor  most 
of  these  bureaus  have  been  taken  from  departments  with  which 
they  had  little  or  no  logical  relation;  and  have  been  brought 
together  into  the  new  department,  where  their  work  can  be 
coordinated  and  harmonized.  At  the  same  time  two  new  bu- 
reaus—the bureau  of  corporations  and  the  bureau  of  manufac- 
tures—have been  established  in  the  new  department. 

It  will  serve  to  give  a  general  idea  of  the  field  allotted  to  this 
department,  to  name  the  various  bureaus  transferred  to  its 
control.  The  larger  number  were  formerly  in  the  Treasury 
department,  from  which  came  the  bureaus  of  statistics,  navi- 
gation, immigration  and  standards,  the  lighthouse  and  the 
steamboat  inspection  services  and  the  coast  and  geodetic  sur- 
vey. From  the  department  of  State  was  taken  the  bureau  of 
foreign  commerce;  and  from  the  department  of -the  Interior, 
the  census  bureau ;  while  the  formerly  unattached  department 
of  labor  and  fish  commission  have  also  been  added.  It  may  be 
noted  that  this  does  not  include  all  of  the  administrative  au- 
thorities dealing  with  commercial  matters.  The  inter-state 


232  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

commerce  commission  is  still  left  outside  of  the  new  depart- 
ment, and  remains  unattached  to  any  of  the  executive  depart- 
ments ;  while  the  life-saving  service  remains  in  the  department 
of  the  Treasury. 

At  the  head  of  the  department  is  the  Secretary  of  Commerce 
and  Labor,  and  an  assistant  secretary,  with  a  small  staff  of 
clerks.  In  inaugurating  the  new  department  the  secretary  has 
given  personal  attention  to  the  readjustment  of  work  among 
the  various  bureaus,  so  as  to  avoid  overlapping  and  duplication 
of  effort,  and  to  secure  a  better  coordination  of  duties.  He  has 
general  supervision  over  all  the  bureaus  in  the  department ;  and 
it  is  his  duty  to  make  special  investigations  at  the  request  of 
the  President  or  Congress  and  to  make  annual  reports  to  Con- 
gress on  the  work  of  the  department.  Attached  to  the  imme- 
diate office  of  the  secretary  are  the  small  number  of  special 
agents  and  inspectors  in  the  seal  islands  of  Alaska  and  super- 
vising salmon  fisheries. 

The  Bureau  of  Corporations  is  authorized  to  investigate  the 
organization,  conduct  and  management  of  the  business  of  any 
corporation,  joint  stock  company  or  corporate  combination 
engaged  in  inter-state  or  foreign  commerce,  except  common 
carriers  subject  to  the  inter-state  commerce  act.  It  is  to  collect 
and  report  to  the  President  such  information  as  will  enable 
him  to  make  recommendations  to  Congress  for  legislation  regu- 
lating such  commerce,  and  to  publish  such  part  of  this  infor- 
mation as  the  President  may  direct.  To  accomplish  these  pur- 
poses, the  commissioner  of  corporations  is  given  the  same 
powers  as  the  inter-state  commerce  commission,  including  the 
right  to  subpoena  and  compel  the  attendance  of  witnesses  and 
the  production  of  documentary  evidence  and  to  administer 
oaths. 

It  is  also  the  duty  of  the  bureau  to  gather,  compile,  publish 
and  supply  useful  information  concerning  corporations  en- 
gaged in  inter-state  or  foreign  commerce,  including  insurance 
corporations. 

The  Bureau  of  Manufactures  was  not  established  during  the 


COMMEECE  AND  LABOR  23$ 

first  year  of  the  new  department.  It  will  be  in  charge  of  a 
commissioner,  and  its  province  will  be  to  foster,  promote  and 
develop  the  manufacturing  industries  of  the  United  States, 
and  extend  their  markets,  by  compiling  and  publishing  infor- 
mation concerning  these  industries  and  markets.  It  is  made 
the  duty  of  consular  officers  to  collect  such  information  in  for- 
eign countries  for  the  use  of  this  bureau. 

STATISTICAL  BUREAUS 

The  Bureau  of  Labor  was  first  organized  in  1885  as  a  bureau 
in  the  department  of  the  Interior.  In  1888  the  duties  of  this 
bureau  were  transferred  to  a  newly  created  department  of 
Labor,  with  enlarged  powers.  This  new  department  was  not 
attached  to  any  of  the  principal  executive  departments;  nor 
did  it  rank  as  another  coordinate  department.  Its  chief  officer 
retained  the  bureau  title  of  commissioner,  and  was  not  ad- 
mitted to  the  President's  Cabinet,— his  position  corresponding 
to  that  of  the  commissioner  of  agriculture  from  1882  to  1889. 
This  department  of  labor  has  been  incorporated  into  the  newly 
established  department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  appearing 
again  as  a  bureau. 

At  the  head  of  the  bureau  is  the  commissioner  of  labor,  ap- 
pointed by  the  President  and  Senate ;  but  the  position  has  been 
considered  non-political  in  character.  Carroll  D.  Wright  occu- 
pied the  post  from  1887  to  1904.  The  staff  of  the  bureau 
consists  of  clerks,  statistical  experts  at  Washington,  and  trav- 
eling special  agents. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  bureau  "to  acquire  and  diffuse  among 
the  people  of  the  United  States  useful  information  on  subjects 
connected  with  labor  in  the  most  general  and  comprehensive 
sense  of  the  word,  and  especially  in  its  relations  to  capital,  the 
hours  of  labor,  the  earnings  of  laboring  men  and  women,  and 
the  means  of  promoting  their  material,  social,  intellectual  and 
moral  prosperity. ' '  Its  principal  work  has  been  the  collection 
and  publication  of  a  series  of  elaborate  statistical  investigations 
on  various  questions  connected  with  industrial  labor,  and  the 


234  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

issue  of  a  bi-monthly  bulletin  containing  shorter  papers  on 
special  topics  within  the  same  field,  labor  laws  and  labor 
reports  of  the  states  and  foreign  countries,  and,  for  a  few 
years,  municipal  statistics  of  the  principal  American  cities. 
Among  the  more  important  investigations  may  be  mentioned 
those  on  strikes  and  lockouts  1881-1900,  costs  of  production  in 
iron,  textile  and  glass  industries,  industrial  education,  munic- 
ipal and  private  ownership  of  water,  gas  and  electric  light 
plants. 

In  spite  of  the  controverted  nature  of  the  problems  consid- 
ered, the  bureau  has  established  and  maintained  a  reputation 
for  impartiality  and  accuracy  in  its  investigations.  In  pur- 
suance of  this  policy  the  reports  of  the  bureau  do  not  attempt 
to  interpret  the  facts  presented  or  to  recommend  definite 
measures.  As  a  result  it  is  difficult  to  trace  directly  the  effects 
of  the  investigations  in  legislation ;  but  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  the  indirect  effects  have  been  of  much  importance. 

The  Bureau  of  the  Census  has  only  recently  been  organized 
on  a  permanent  basis ;  but  a  national  census  has  been  taken  at 
every  decade  since  1790,  in  accordance  with  the  requirement  of 
the  constitution.  At  first  the  census  work  was  in  charge  of  the 
department  of  State,  with  the  United  States  marshals  arrang- 
ing the  details  in  their  respective  districts  and  sending  in  the 
returns.  At  the  seventh  census,  in  1850,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior  was  given  general  supervision;  and  a  census  board, 
consisting  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  the  Attorney-General  and 
the  Postmaster-General,  was  formed  to  prepare  the  schedules 
for  the  more  extended  inquiries  then  inaugurated. 

For  the  ninth  census,  General  Francis  A.  Walker  was  ap- 
pointed superintendent,  and  introduced  important  changes  in 
methods ;  but  the  local  enumeration  was  still  performed  under 
the  direction  of  the  marshals.  In  1880  the  use  of  marshals 
was  discontinued,  and  a  body  of  census  supervisors  was  organ- 
ized, each  having  charge  of  the  enumerators  in  a  specified  dis- 
trict. This  plan  was  again  followed  for  the  eleventh  and 
twelfth  censuses. 


OOMMEECE  AND  LABOR 


235 


Up  to  this  time  the  whole  corps  of  census  officials  had  to  be 
newly  organized  for  each  census;  but  in  1902  provision  was 
made  for  a  permanent  bureau  of  the  census.  This  was  at  first 
placed  in  the  department  of  the  Interior,  which  had  super- 
vised the  work  for  several  decades ;  but  on  the  creation  of  the 
department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  the  bureau  was  trans- 
ferred to  it. 

As  now  organized,  the  bureau  consists  of  a  director,  ap- 
pointed by  the  President  and  Senate,  four  chief  statisticians 
and  a  large  force  of  clerks  and  special  agents.  The  corps  of 
district  supervisors  and  local  enumerators  will  still  have  to  be 
reorganized  each  decade.1 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  bureau  to  take  a  census  of  the  United 
States  every  ten  years,  and  to  collect  such  special  statistics  as 
are  required  by  Congress.  The  range  of  inquiries  at  the 
decennial  census  has  increased  enormously  from  the  six  ques- 
tions used  in  1790.  Complex  systems  of  inquiries  are  now 
ascertained,  not  only  in  reference  to  population,  but  also  on 
vital  statistics,  agriculture  and  manufactures,  with  additional 
investigations  on  the  defective  and  criminal  classes,  state  and 
local  finances,  transportation,  mining  and  other  subjects. 
With  the  permanent  bureau  statistics  are  to  be  collected  in 

1  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  CENSUS  SERVICE 
TJie  Century  Magazine,  43:838. 


Time 

Time  to  pub- 

Census 
Year 

Number 
of  Em- 

for enu- 
meration 

lication  of 
population 

Total 
pages 
in 

Total 
cost 

Total 
population 

ployees 

Months 

Years 

Mos. 

reports 

1790. 

667 

18 

8 

56 

$     44,377 

3,929,214 

1800. 

924 

16.5 

6 

74 

66,386 

5,308,483 

1810. 

1,130 

10 

3 

413 

177,699 

7,239,881 

1820. 

1,229 

15 

7 

288 

208,526 

9,638,453 

1830. 

1,598 

14 

10 

171 

378,545 

12,866,020 

1840. 

2,236 

?? 

1 

9 

890 

833,371 

17,069,453 

1850. 

3,436 

20.5 

1 

9 

1,605 

1,423,351 

23,191,876 

1860. 

4,665 

?? 

3 

9 

2,879 

1,969,377 

31,443,321 

1870. 

7,111 

15 

2 

4 

2,406 

3,421,198 

38,558,371 

1880. 

33,021 

1 

2 

10 

5,245 

5,790,678  50,429,345 

1890. 

50,122 

1 

4 

10 

10,220 

11,547,127 

62,979.766 

1900. 

59,373 

1 

1 

7 

10,900 

11,854,817 

76,149,386 

236  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

1905  on  manufactures,  births  and  deaths,  cotton  production, 
and  municipal  matters.  The  bureau  has  also  had  charge  of 
the  compilation  and  tabulation  of  the  results  of  the  census  of 
the  Philippine  Islands  taken  in  1903. 

The  Bureau  of  Statistics  combines  the  functions  of  the  for- 
mer bureau  of  statistics  in  the  department  of  the  Treasury 
(established  in  1866)  with  those  of  the  bureau  of  foreign  com- 
merce in  the  department  of  State.  It  is  primarily  an  office 
for  the  compilation  and  publication  of  commercial  statistics 
and  consular  reports. 

Statistics  of  foreign  commerce,  collected  through  the  cus- 
toms service,  are  prepared  in  great  detail,  showing  imports 
and  exports  by  countries  and  customs  districts,  duties  collected 
on  each  class  of  imports,  and  the  movement  of  vessel  tonnage 
in  the  foreign  trade  at  United  States  ports.  In  recent  years 
information  in  regard  to  the  leading  features  of  internal  com- 
merce has  also  been  published,  including  the  traffic  on  the 
great  lakes  and  commercial  data  for  the  principal  seaports  and 
inland  centers ;  but  there  is  no  complete  system  of  data  for  this 
branch  of  the  work  and  most  even  of  the  statistics  published  in 
this  line  are  secured  through  unofficial  organizations. 

A  monthly  summary  of  finance  and  commerce  is  published, 
showing  the  data  on  all  the  above  mentioned  points ;  and  these 
monthly  records  are  later  compiled  in  a  comprehensive  annual 
report.  Additional  reports  on  special  topics  in  connection 
with  foreign  and  colonial  commerce  are  also  published  from 
time  to  time.  And  the  bureau  prepares  and  issues  the  Statis- 
tical Abstract  of  the  United  States,  which  gives  a  general  sum- 
mary, covering  most  of  the  departments  in  the  national  admin- 
istration, with  additional  statistics  from  other  sources. 

Consular  reports  on  commercial  matters  are  published  first 
in  daily  bulletins  and  later  in  a  monthly  pamphlet.  Special 
consular  reports  are  also  published  at  irregular  intervals  on 
various  subjects  on  which  inquiries  have  been  sent  to  the  con- 
suls. And  the  annual  report  to  Congress  on  the  commercial 
relations  of  the  United  States  is  made  by  the  bureau. 


COMMEECE  AND  LABOR  237 

MARINE  COMMERCE 

Several  bureaus  in  the  department  of  Commerce  and  Labor 
have  to  do  with  matters  affecting  the  interests  of  merchant 
shipping  and  water-borne  commerce.  It  will  not  only  be  con- 
venient to  consider  these  in  one  group ;  but  this  method  may 
also  call  attention  to  the  larger  use  made  by  the  national  gov- 
ernment of  its  powers  over  inter-state  and  foreign  commerce  in 
relation  to  marine  traffic  as  compared  to  railroad  traffic.  It 
may  also  be  noted  here  that,  in  addition  to  the  bureau  of  navi- 
gation, the  steamboat  inspection  service,  the  lighthouse  service, 
the  coast  survey  and  the  bureau  of  fisheries  in  this  department, 
the  life-saving  service  in  the  department  of  the  Treasury  be- 
longs in  the  same  group  of  administrative  services.  Moreover 
the  customs  administration  has  a  large  influence  on  shipping 
interests,  while  the  admiralty  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States 
courts  gives  the  judicial  branch  of  the  national  government 
important  functions  in  the  same  field. 

So  far  as  the  bureaus  here  under  consideration  are  concerned, 
the  constitutional  basis  for  the  authority  of  the  national  gov- 
ernment is  the  power  of  Congress  to  regulate  foreign  and  inter- 
state commerce.  This  comprehends  authority  over  such  com- 
merce, not  only  on  the  high  seas,  but  also  on  all  the  navigable 
waters  of  the  United  States  which  are  accessible  from  a  state 
other  than  that  in  which  they  lie,  although  ownership  and 
dominion  over  navigable  waters  within  a  state  belongs  to  the 
state.  The  national  jurisdiction  includes  the  power  to  keep 
such  inter-state  navigable  waters  open  to  navigation  and  to 
remove  obstructions  to  navigation  interposed  by  the  states  or 
otherwise.  It  embraces  control  over  navigation  and  implies 
the  incidental  power  to  regulate  the  essential  instrumentalities 
incident  to  it,  including  ships,  steamboats  and  all  manner  of 
vessels  that  go  upon  navigable  waters  from  one  state  to  another, 
or  out  of  a  state  into  the  sea,  coastwise  or  upon  the  sea  to 
foreign  countries.1 

1  Gibbon  v.  Ogden,  9  Wheaton,  1 ;  Gilman  v.  Philadelphia,  3  Wallace 
(U.  S.)  713;  The  Daniel  Ball,  10  Wallace  (U.  S.)  557. 


238  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

Laws  affecting  navigation  were  passed  by  the  first  Congress 
under  the  constitution.  Their  most  important  feature  was  the 
imposition  of  discriminating  duties,  both  on  imported  mer- 
chandise and  on  tonnage,  in  favor  of  American  built  and  Amer- 
ican owned  vessels.  This  restrictive  policy  was  in  accordance 
with  the  navigation  acts  of  other  countries  at  that  time ;  and 
in  1817  was  carried  further  by  prohibiting  foreign  built  or 
foreign  owned  vessels  from  engaging  in  coasting  trade  in  the 
United  States.  Natural  advantages  in  the  construction  of 
wooden  vessels,  and  the  profits  of  trade  as  neutrals  during  the 
European  wars,  caused  a  rapid  development  in  American  ship- 
ping from  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century  until  after  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth.  But  with  the  change  from  sail  to 
steam  and  from  wooden  to  iron  and  steel  construction,  there 
has  been  a  great  decline  in  American  vessels  in  the  foreign 
trade ;  although  domestic  shipping,  guarded  from  foreign  com- 
petition, has  continued  to  increase. 

The  Bureau  of  Navigation  was  established  in  1884,  as  a 
bureau  in  the  department  of  the  Treasury,  to  organize  more  ef- 
fectively the  national  supervision  over  the  merchant  marine,  to 
investigate  the  operation  of  the  navigation  laws,  and  to  recom- 
mend changes  in  them.  It  has  charge  of  the  registration  of 
American  vessels  in  the  foreign  trade  (formerly  in  the  hands 
of  the  register  of  the  treasury),  and  of  the  enrollment  and 
licensing  of  American  vessels  in  the  coasting  and  fishing 
trades.  It  supervises  the  laws  relating  to  the  admeasurement 
of  vessels,  their  original  letters  and  official  numbers ;  and  has 
the  final  decision  of  questions  relating  to  these  subjects,  and  to 
the  collection  and  refund  of  tonnage  duties.  It  prepares 
annually  a  list  of  American  merchant  vessels,  and  is  em- 
powered to  change  the  names  of  vessels. 

It  also  has  supervision  over  the  shipping  commissioners,  who 
are  established  at  the  principal  ports  of  the  United  States. 
These  shipping  commissioners  are  public  officers  who  super- 
vise the  shipping  articles  or  the  contracts  of  seamen  with  the 
masters,  regulating  their  wages  and  describing  the  voyage  and 


COMMERCE  AND  LABOR  239 

term  of  service ;  and  also  enforce  the  laws  for  the  protection 
and  relief  of  seamen,  in  reference  to  the  seaworthiness  of 
ships,  provisions,  damages  for  unjust  treatment,  discipline, 
desertion  and  the  punishment  of  mutiny  and  other  crimes.  At 
less  important  ports,  where  no  shipping  commissioner  is  ap- 
pointed, the  duties  may  be  performed  by  the  collector  of  cus- 
toms or  his  deputy. 

Under  the  act  of  1903  the  bureau  of  navigation  was  trans- 
ferred from  the  department  of  the  Treasury  to  the  department 
of  Commerce  and  Labor,  but  its  functions  were  not  altered. 

The  Steamboat  Inspection  Service  inspects  not  only  steam 
vessels,  but  also  sailing  vessels,  and  examines  the  qualifications 
of  navigation  and  engineering  officers  on  such  vessels,  for  the 
protection  of  life  and  property  on  the  water.  As  early  as 
1838  the  national  government  established  a  system  of  local 
inspectors,  appointed  by  the  United  States  district  judges,  to 
examine  the  hulls,  boilers  and  machinery  of  steam  vessels,  and 
to  issue  certificates  to  vessels  found  in  a  satisfactory  condition. 
This  system  did  not  prove  adequate ;  and  an  increasing  number 
of  steamboat  boiler  explosions,  resulting  in  serious  loss  of  life, 
led  to  the  reorganization  of  the  service  by  an  act  of  1852. 
This  introduced  a  new  system  of  choosing  the  local  inspectors ; 
and  provided  for  supervising  inspectors  to  be  appointed  by  the 
President  and  Senate,  who  should  adopt  general  rules  and 
supervise  the  local  inspectors  under  the  general  direction  of  the 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  In  1903  the  service  was  trans- 
ferred en  bloc  to  the  new  department  of  Commerce  and  Labor. 

As  now  organized  this  service  has  at  its  head  an  inspector- 
general  at  a  salary  of  $3,500  a  year,  and  ten  supervising  in- 
spectors. All  of  these  meet  once  a  year  (on  the  first  Wednes- 
day in  January)  as  a  board,  which  establishes  and  amends  the 
regulations,  supplementing  the  statutory  provisions,  governing 
the  system  of  inspections  and  examinations.  Each  supervising 
inspector  has  also  supervision  over  the  local  inspectors  within 
an  assigned  district.  Local  inspectors  are  appointed  at  all  the 


240  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

important  ports,  with  assistant  inspectors  at  the  largest  places, 
classed  as  inspectors  of  hulls  and  inspectors  of  boilers. 

An  inspection  must  be  made  once  a  year  of  the  hulls,  appli- 
ances, boilers  and  machinery  of  all  steam  vessels  (also  gas  and 
other  motor  vessels  employed  as  common  carriers)  as  to  their 
stability,  accommodations  and  safety  and  the  provision  of  fire 
apparatus,  life  preservers  and  life  boats.  Sailing  vessels  of 
over  700  tons  and  other  vessels  and  barges  of  over  100  tons 
must  also  be  inspected  once  a  year  with  reference  to  the  sta- 
bility of  construction  for  their  particular  service.  Iron  and 
steel  plates  for  marine  boilers  are  inspected  at  the  mills  where 
manufactured ;  and  only  approved  plates  properly  stamped  by 
the  inspectors  may  be  used  in  the  boilers  of  steam  vessels.  Any 
steam  vessel  which  has  not  complied  with  the  provisions  of  the 
law  will  be  refused  registry  or  enrollment,  and  is  liable  to  a 
fine  of  $500  for  each  offence.  The  regulations  do  not  apply  to 
vessels  doing  business  solely  within  a  state  j1  but  most  even  of 
such  vessels  find  it  an  advantage  to  have  the  United  States 
inspection  certificate. 

Local  boards  of  inspectors  also  examine  and  issue  licenses  to 
qualified  masters,  chief  mates,  other  mates  in  charge  of  a  watch, 
pilots  and  engineers  of  steam  vessels,  and  masters  and  chief 
mates  of  sailing  vessels  over  700  tons.  It  is  unlawful  to  employ 
any  person  in  any  of  these  capacities  who  is  not  licensed  by  the 
inspectors.  These  licenses  may  be  suspended  or  revoked  for 
incompetence,  misbehavior  or  negligence ;  and  in  cases  of  acci- 
dents the  local  inspectors  hold  investigations  to  determine  who 
was  at  fault.  Action  by  the  inspectors  does  not,  however, 
interfere  with  criminal  prosecutions  or  civil  suits  for  damages 
before  the  judicial  courts.2 

1 6  Ben.  U.  S.  42. 

*  The  appalling  loss  of  life  in  the  burning  of  the  steamer  General 
Slocum  in  New  York  harbor  on  June  15,  1904,  led  to  a  special  investiga- 
tion which  disclosed  gross  negligence  in  the  inspections  at  the  port  of  New 
York.  The  local  officials  responsible  have  been  removed ;  and  the  regula- 
tions of  the  service  have  been  revised  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  simi- 
lar disasters. 


COMMEECE  AND  LABOR  241 

In  cases  of  collision  and  other  accidents  responsibility  is 
often  determined  in  accordance  with  established  rules  of  navi- 
gation, as  to  lights,  signals,  lookouts,  special  precautions  in 
fog  or  in  narrow  channels,  and  steering  directions.  Such  rules 
developed  at  first  by  customary  usage  on  the  sea,  enforced  by 
decisions  in  the  admiralty  courts;  but  are  now  placed  on  a 
statutory  basis.  In  1864  Congress  adopted  the  rules  in  the 
English  Merchants  Shipping  Act,  which  have  since  been 
amended  from  time  to  time.  There  are  now  four  sets  of  navi- 
gation rules,  varying  in  certain  provisions,  governing  the  navi- 
gation of  vessels  in  United  States  waters:  the  international 
rules  on  the  high  seas,  the  inland  rules,  the  rules  for  the  great 
lakes  and  their  tributaries,  and  the  rules  for  western  rivers. 

The  Lighthouse  Establishment  has  charge'  of  lighthouses 
and  other  aids  to  navigation  for  the  protection  of  marine  com- 
merce. This  branch  of  the  national  administration  began  at 
the  very  outset  of  the  government  under  the  constitution, 
when,  in  August,  1789,  the  United  States  accepted  the  cession 
of  the  title  to  and  joint  jurisdiction  over  the  eight  lighthouses 
previously  established  in  the  maritime  states.  These  lights 
were  placed  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treas- 
ury ;  and  until  1820  were  either  under  the  direct  control  of  that 
officer,  or,  for  two  periods,1  under  the  immediate  control  of  the 
commissioner  of  revenue.  From  1820  to  1852  the  lighthouses 
were  directly  in  charge  of  the  fifth  auditor  of  the  treasury, 
who  was  popularly  known  as  the  general  superintendent  of 
lights.  At  the  end  of  this  period  the  establishment  had  in- 
creased to  325  lighthouses  and  lightships,  with  numerous 
buoys  and  other  aids  to  navigation  at  the  various  ports.  At 
first  the  collectors  of  customs  acted  as  local  superintendents  of 
lights  within  their  customs  districts ;  but  in  1838  the  Atlantic 
and  lake  coasts  were  divided  into  eight  districts,  and  a  naval 
officer  assigned  to  each. 

In  1852,  as  the  result  of  several  investigations,  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  lighthouse  service  was  reorganized.  There  was 

1 1792-1802  and  1813-1820. 
16 


242  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

created  the  lighthouse  board,  composed  of  the  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  as  president,  three  naval  officers,  three  engineer  offi- 
cers of  the  army  and  two  civilians  of  high  scientific  attain- 
ments. At  the  same  time  two  new  districts  were  established 
on  the  Pacific  coast.  Since  then,  as  the  service  has  developed, 
additional  districts  have  been  organized  on  the  Gulf  of  Mexico 
and  for  the  interior  rivers.  On  the  organization  of  the  depart- 
ment of  Commerce  and  Labor,  the  whole  establishment  was 
transferred  to  it,  the  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  taking 
the  place  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  as  president  of  the 
board. 

General  superintendence  of  the  service  remains  in  control  of 
the  lighthouse  board,  which  forms  a  marked  exception  to  the 
prevailing  system  of  single-headed  bureaus  in  the  national 
administration.  In  addition  to  its  ex-officio  president,  the 
board  elects  a  chairman,  who  ordinarily  presides  at  the  meet- 
ings and  signs  the  more  important  letters.  One  of  the  naval 
officers  on  the  board  is  assigned  as  naval  secretary,  who  has 
charge  of  the  office  staff,  the  personnel  of  the  lighthouse  servr 
ice,  the  maintenance  of  lights  and  care  of  vessels  belonging  to 
the  establishment.  One  of  the  army  engineer  members  is  as- 
signed as  engineer  secretary,  who  has  control  over  the  real 
estate,  lighthouse  buildings  and  apparatus  connected  with  the 
service. 

In  the  sixteen  lighthouse  districts  the  same  dual  system  of 
administration  is  applied.  Each  district  has  a  navy  officer  as 
inspector,  who  supplies  the  lighthouses  and  lightships  with 
lighting  material,  rations  and  fuel,  maintains  buoys,  makes 
nominations  for  the  promotion  and  transfer  of  keepers  and  is 
responsible  for  the  maintenance  of  discipline.  He  also  has 
control  over  the  vessels  employed  for  carrying  supplies  and 
locating  buoys.  Each  district  has  also  an  engineer  officer  from 
the  army,  who  has  charge  of  the  real  estate,  buildings  and  ap- 
paratus, and  control  over  the  machinists,  carpenters  and  labor- 
ers employed  in  construction  and  repair  work. 

Keepers  and  assistant  keepers  of  lighthouses  are  appointed 


COMMEECE  AND  LABOR  243 

by  the  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor.  The  establishment 
now  consists  of  about  1,500  lighthouses  and  beacon  lights,  50 
lightships,  2,000  post  lights  and  6,000  buoys,  with  40  steam 
tenders,  1,600  keepers,  1,200  men  in  the  crews  of  vessels,  and 
1,600  laborers  in  charge  of  post  lights  in  rivers  and  harbors. 
The  annual  expense  for  maintenance  is  about  $4,000,000. 

The  Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey  is  charged  with  the  survey 
of  the  coasts  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States,  and  of 
rivers  to  the  head  of  tide- water  ship  navigation  for  purposes  of 
commerce  and  defense.  This  includes  hydrographic  investi- 
gations of  depths,  tides  and  currents,  not  only  along  the  coasts 
and  rivers,  but  also  throughout  the  Gulf  Stream  and  Japan 
stream ;  and  topographical  determinations  of  heights  and  geo- 
graphical positions  by  geodetic  leveling  and  continental 
triangulation  (based  on  trigonometic  and  astronomical  calcu- 
lations), so  as  to  furnish  points  of  reference  for  state  surveys 
and  connect  the  work  on  the  Atlantic  with  that  on  the  Pacific 
coast.  To  secure  accurate  data  for  this  work  there  has  been 
also  carried  out  a  large  amount  of  scientific  research  in  connec- 
tion with  the  force  of  gravity  and  the  variations  of  the  mag- 
netic needle. 

General  management  of  the  survey  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
superintendent,  who  has  direction  of  the  force  of  assistants, 
draughtsmen,  computers  and  clerks.  A  number  of  vessels  are 
employed  in  making  observations,  while  the  calculations  and 
correlation  of  the  data  are  performed  mainly  at  Washington. 
The  field  of  operations  has  recently  been  extended  to  include 
Porto  Rico,  the  Hawaiian  Islands  and  the  Philippine  Islands. 

Results  of  the  survey  are  published  in  various  forms  mainly 
for  the  benefit  of  navigation  interests.  These  include  sailing, 
coast,  harbor  and  river  charts;  annual  tide  tables,  issued  in 
advance;  coast  pilots,  with  sailing  directions  for  navigable 
waters;  and  monthly  notices  to  mariners,  containing  current 
information  necessary  for  the  safety  of  navigation.  Annual 
reports  show  the  work  performed,  with  professional  papers 
discussing  the  scientific  value  of  the  results. 


244  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

The  Bureau  of  Fisheries  promotes  the  propagation  of  food 
fishes  and  otherwise  advances  the  interests  of  commercial  fish- 
eries. It  originated  in  the  appointment  of  a  commissioner  in 
1871  to  investigate  the  diminution  in  the  supply  of  food  fish. 
A  year  later  a  small  appropriation  was  made  by  Congress  to 
continue  the  investigation  and  provide  for  the  introduction  of 
useful  fishes  into  American  waters;  and  since  then  there  has 
been  a  steady  development  both  in  the  biological  and  economic 
investigations  and  in  fish  culture  and  distribution.  For  six- 
teen years  the  work  was  in  charge  of  Professor  Baird  of  the 
Smithsonian  Institution,  who  served  without  additional  salary ; 
but  in  1888  provision  was  made  for  a  salaried  commissioner. 
In  1903  the  fish  commission,  hitherto  unattached  to  any  of  the 
executive  departments,  was  included  as  a  bureau  in  the  new 
department  of  Commerce  and  Labor. 

Three  lines  of  work  are  carried  on  by  the  bureau :  investiga- 
tion, fish  culture  and  distribution,  and  the  collection  of  sta- 
tistics of  fisheries.  The  inquiry  into  the  causes  of  decrease  of 
food  fishes  has  developed  into  extensive  biological  investiga- 
tions by  scientific  naturalists,  carried  on  mainly  at  the  marine 
stations  at  Woods  Holl,  Mass.,  and  Beaufort,  N.  C.  A  sys- 
tematic survey  of  ocean  fishing  grounds  has  also  been  carried 
out.  For  the  work  of  fish  culture,  thirty-five  hatcheries  are 
maintained  in  various  parts  of  the  country;  and  from  these 
public  waters  are  stocked  with  young  food  fish  to  the  extent  of 
over  a  thousand  million  a  year.  In  connection  with  the  sta- 
tistics of  fisheries,  a  study  is  made  of  fishing  methods,  and 
information  is  distributed  concerning  the  most  approved  meth- 
ods and  the  best  utilization  of  fishery  products. 

The  Bureau  of  Immigration  has  charge  of  the  inspection  of 
immigrants  and  the  execution  of  the  immigration  laws. 

Records  of  immigration  into  the  United  States  have  been 
kept  since  1821.  These  show  that  the  movement  from  Europe 
to  this  country  became  marked  about  1830,  and  reached  large 
proportions  in  the  two  decades  from  1840  to  1860.  The  next 


COMMERCE  AND  LABOR 


245 


twenty  years  brought  a  relatively  smaller  number  of  immi- 
grants, followed  in  the  years  1880-1890  by  the  largest  volume 
in  any  decade,  aggregating  over  5,000,000.  After  another  ten 
years '  period  of  comparative  decline,  another  tidal  wave  seems 
to  have  set  in  since  1902.1  In  recent  years  there  has  been  a 
marked  change  in  the  racial  elements  coming  to  the  United 
States.  Where  formerly  the  bulk  of  immigrants  came  from 
Ireland  and  the  Teutonic  countries  of  central  and  northern 
Europe,  the  greater  proportion  now  come  from  southern  and 
southeastern  Europe,  including  a  large  share  of  Slavonic 
peoples. 

Congressional  laws  on  immigration  began  with  the  Passenger 
acts  of  1819  and  1855,  which  simply  aimed  to  protect  immi- 
grants from  overcrowding  and  bad  treatment  at  sea.  In  1862 
an  act  was  passed  restricting  the  immigration  of  Chinese 
coolies;  and  in  1875  the  immigration  of  convicts  and  women 
prostitutes  was  forbidden.  But  the  first  important  restrictive 
measures  were  two  acts  of  1882 :  one  prohibiting  idiots,  lunat- 
ics, convicts  and  persons  likely  to  become  a  charge  on  the 
public  from  coming  into  the  United  States ;  the  other  shutting 
out  all  Chinese  laborers.  The  enforcement  of  these  acts  was 
given  to  collectors  of  customs  and  to  state  officers  with  whom 
the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  might  make  contracts  to  act  as 
inspectors.  In  1885  alien  laborers  under  contract  for  employ- 
ment in  this  country  were  forbidden  to  enter.  In  1888  a  new 
and  more  drastic  Chinese  exclusion  law  was  passed. 

1From  Political  Science  Quarterly,  19:33. 


DECADE 

Population  at 
beginning  of 
decade 

Total  number 
of 
immigrants 

Number  per  1000 
of  initial 
population 

1821-1830 

9  633  822 

143  439 

15 

1831-1840  

12,866  020 

599,125 

47 

1841-1850  

17  069  453 

1  713  251 

100 

1851-1860 

23  191  876 

2  598  224 

110 

1861-1870  

31,443,321 

2,314,824 

73 

1871-1880  

38  558  371 

2,812,191 

73 

1881-1890 

50  155  783 

5  246  613 

104 

1891-1900 

62  692  ?50 

3  687  564 

59 

246  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

No  effective  means  of  enforcing  these  restrictions  were  estab- 
lished until  1891.  An  act  of  that  year  added  polygamists  and 
persons  suffering  from  dangerous  diseases  to  the  groups  of 
excluded  aliens.  It  also  provided  for  regulating  the  trans- 
portation companies,  and  required  them  to  carry  back  any 
aliens  who  came  to  the  country  in  defiance  of  the  law.  Fur- 
ther, it  provided  for  a  force  of  national  inspectors  under  a 
superintendent  of  immigration.  Some  amendments  have  since 
been  enacted,  changing  the  title  of  the  superintendent  of  immi- 
gration and  placing  the  enforcement  of  the  Chinese  exclusion 
acts  under  his  direction. 

General  supervision  of  the  immigration  service  is  in  charge 
of  the  officer  now  known  as  the  commissioner-general  of  immi- 
gration, who  is  appointed  by  the  President  and  Senate,  at  a 
salary  of  $5,000  a  year.  He  decides  on  appeals  from  the  deci- 
sions of  local  inspectors  as  to  the  right  of  aliens  to  land  in  the 
United  States ;  and  the  courts  have  held  that  the  provision  of 
the  statute  which  makes  his  decision  final  when  approved  by 
the  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor  (formerly  the  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury)  is  valid,  and  that  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus  will 
not  be  issued  to  review  the  proceedings  in  the  courts.1  The 
commissioner-general  of  immigration  also  has  control  over  the 
local  inspectors,  and  prepares  regulations  (issued  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  Commerce  and  Labor)  to  guide  their  actions.  He  also 
investigates  violations  of  the  contract  labor  law,  submits  to  the 
United  States  district  attorneys  evidence  for  prosecuting  viola- 
tions, collects  immigration  statistics  and  reports  annually  to 
the  Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor. 

At  each  of  the  most  important  immigrant  ports— New 
York,  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore  and  San  Francisco, 
also  at  Vancouver  and  Quebec  (in  winter  Halifax)  in  Canada 
—there  is  a  local  commissioner  of  immigration  with  a  staff  of 
assistants,  inspectors  and  other  subordinates,  for  examining 
immigrants  and  applying  the  provisions  of  the  laws.  The  New 
York  immigration  office  at  Ellis  island  is  much  the  most  impor- 
1 142  U.  S.  663 ;  158  IT.  S.  546 ;  185  U.  S.  305 ;  186  U.  S.  175. 


COMMEECE  AND  LABOR  247 

tant  of  these  local  services.  There  is  also  a  force  of  immigra- 
tion inspectors,  some  stationed  at  other  cities,  others  traveling 
throughout  the  country,  who  act  under  the  immediate  direc- 
tion of  the  commissioner-general. 

The  Bureau  of  Standards,  established  in  1901,  has  custody 
of  the  national  standards  of  measurement,  makes  exact  deter- 
minations, comparisons  and  tests  of  standard  units  and  meas- 
uring apparatus,  and  constructs  copies  of  such  standards  for 
use  in  scientific  investigations,  engineering,  manufacturing, 
commerce  and  educational  institutions.  From  the  funda- 
mental standards  of  length  and  mass,  with  the  unit  of  time, 
standards  are  derived  for  the  measurement  of  volume,  density, 
capacity,  velocity,  pressure,  energy,  electricity,  temperature, 
illumination  and  the  like.  The  work  includes  research  in  the 
domain  of  physics,  extending  into  the  field  of  chemistry  on  the 
one  hand  and  of  engineering  on  the  other ;  and  is  carried  on  by 
a  corps  of  scientific  specialists  in  mechanical  and  physical  labo- 
ratories, under  the  supervision  of  the  director. 

In  addition  to  the  investigations  begun  on  its  own  initiative, 
the  bureau  makes  comparisons,  calibrations,  tests  and  investi- 
gations of  standards  and  methods  of  constructing  measuring 
apparatus  for  other  offices  in  the  national  government,  and  also 
for  state  and  municipal  governments,  scientific  societies,  edu- 
cational institutions,  manufacturers  and  others.  Such  work 
for  the  national  or  state  governments  is  performed  without 
charge ;  from  others  reasonable  fees  are  required.  By  furnish- 
ing official  sealers  of  weights  and  measures  and  private  parties 
with  accurate  standards  of  length,  mass  and  capacity,  a  means 
is  provided  for  placing  the  weights  and  measures  used  through- 
out the  country  on  a  new  basis  of  uniformity  and  precision. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

DETACHED  BUREAUS 

INTER-STATE  COMMERCE  COMMISSION 

References. — Dos  PASSOS:  The  Inter-State  Commerce  Law. — B.  H. 
MEYER:  Eailway  Legislation  in  the  United  States,  Part  3. — E.  B. 
JOHNSON  :  American  Eailway  Transportation. — Quarterly  Journal  of 
Economics,  2:162;  3:170.— Political  Science  Quarterly,  2:223,  369; 
11:201;  17:394.— Atlantic  Monthly,  81:433.— North  American  Re- 
view, 145:86;  167:543;  168:62,  321,  506.— Forum,  11:524;  17:207; 
18:704;  25:129;  27:223,  551.— American  Law  Review,  23:84;  29:59; 
33:188.— Popular  Science  Monthly,  41:212. 

CIVIL  SERVICE  COMMISSION 

BRYCE:  American  Commonwealth,  ch.  65. — ROOSEVELT:  American 
Ideals,  No.  7 ;  Strenuous  Life,  41-112 ;  125-152. — LODGE  :  Political  Essays, 
114-137. — GOODNOW:  Comparative  Administrative  Law,  II,  34-46. — HART: 
Practical  Essays,  No.  4;  Actual  Government,  285-294. — Reports  of  the 
National  Civil  Service  Reform  Association. — Political  Science  Quarterly, 
3:267;  4:284. — American  Law  Review,  11:197. — North  American  Review, 
141:15;  157:571;  161:602;  166:196;  169 : 678.— Forum,  14:216;  16:399; 
20:120;  26:413;  27:705;  28:293;  30:608.— Atlantic  Monthly,  67:252; 
71:15;  75:239. — Scribner's  Magazine,  18:238. — Century,  17:628;  18:837. 
Conservative  Review,  3:256. 

THERE  are  in  the  national  administration  a  number  of  bu- 
reaus, commissions  and  institutions  not  attached  to  any  of  the 
nine  executive  departments  thus  far  considered.  These  in- 
clude the  Inter-State  Commerce  Commission,  the  Civil  Serv- 
ice Commission,  the  Government  Printing  Office,  and  the  Li- 
brary of  Congress.  At  least  some  of  these  might  with  ad- 
vantage be  placed  under  the  supervision  of  one  or  other  of 
the  executive  departments ;  but  in  their  present  detached  con- 
dition they  must  be  noted  apart  from  any  of  the  departments. 
It  must  not  be  supposed,  however,  that  grouping  them  in  this 
chapter  indicates  that  there  is  any  special  relations  between 


DETACHED  BUREAUS  249 

the  bureaus  here  examined.     They  are  as  independent  of  each 
other  as  of  the  executive  departments. 

INTER-STATE   COMMERCE   COMMISSION 

While  the  national  government  early  exercised  its  authority 
over  inter-state  commerce  in  reference  to  water  traffic,  and 
indeed  has  regulated  commerce  on  inter-state  waterways  car- 
ried on  entirely  within  particular  states,  the  regulation  of 
inter-state  railroad  commerce  has  developed  only  within  recent 
years.  The  early  railroads  were  built  entirely  under  state 
authority;  and  even  after  companies  were  established  doing 
business  in  several  states  they  acted  under  legislation  from 
each  state  and  without  any  national  authorization.  And  the 
early  national  land  grants  to  encourage  railroad  building  were 
made  to  the  states ;  so  that  in  this  matter  also  the  national  gov- 
ernment did  not  come  into  direct  connection  with  the  railroad 
companies. 

National  legislation  dealing  directly  with  railroads  began 
with  the  land  grants  to  the  transcontinental  roads  during  the 
Civil  War.  Then  in  1866  an  Act  of  Congress  was  passed  per- 
mitting the  formation  of  inter-state  freight  lines.  In  1868 
and  1873-4,  congressional  committees  investigated  railroad 
questions  and  considered  the  question  of  national  control ;  but 
no  legislation  was  enacted.  In  1875  an  act  was  passed  provid- 
ing for  the  collection  of  railroad  statistics;  but  it  was  twelve 
years  later  before  any  regulation  of  the  railroad  business  was 
attempted. 

The  Inter-State  Commerce  Act  of  1887  was  a  compromise 
between  two  bills,  one  of  which  had  passed  each  house  of 
Congress.  This  act  imposed  certain  requirements  and  pro- 
hibitions on  inter-state  railroad  traffic;  and  established  a 
commission  with  power  to  investigate  complaints,  to  institute 
inquiries,  and  to  carry  on  proceedings  for  the  enforcement  of 
the  provisions  of  the  law.  The  powers  of  the  commission  have 
been  somewhat  enlarged  by  subsequent  legislation,  notably  the 
Safety  Appliances  Act  of  1893,  the  Arbitration  Act  of  1898, 


250  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

the  Kailroad  Accidents  Act  of  1901,  and  the  act  of  1903  pro- 
hibiting rebates. 

There  are  five  members  of  the  commission,  appointed  by  the 
President  and  Senate  for  a  term  of  six  years,  at  a  salary  of 
$7,500  each.  It  employs  a  secretary  and  a  statistician  and  a 
considerable  staff  of  clerks.  Its  functions  are  in  part  admin- 
istrative, and  in  part  quasi- judicial,  and  this  dual  nature  has 
been  the  cause  of  no  little  dissatisfaction. 

In  its  administrative  capacity  the  commission  has  charge  of 
the  collection  of  railroad  statistics;  and  in  this  field  it  has 
secured  the  adoption  of  uniform  methods  of  accounting  by  the 
various  railroads,  and  collects  and  publishes  tolerably  complete 
returns  of  railroad  finances,  railroad  traffic  and  railroad  acci- 
dents. It  has  also  brought  about  greater  uniformity  in  the 
methods  of  classifying  freight,  the  former  manifold  classifica- 
tions being  now  reduced  to  three,  each  in  use  in  a  definite 
section  of  the  country.  It  has  further  promoted  the  adoption 
of  safety  appliances  and  methods  for  the  prevention  of  acci- 
dents ;  but  as  yet  the  requirements  for  railroads  in  this  regard 
are  much  less  than  for  vessel  navigation  under  the  steamboat 
inspection  service. 

Most  attention,  however,  has  been  given  to  the  quasi-judicial 
work  of  the  commission  in  investigating  complaints  of  viola- 
tions of  the  provisions  of  the  law  intended  to  secure  an 
adherence  to  the  old  common  law  doctrine  that  common  car- 
riers must  treat  all  their  patrons  equally,  and  to  prevent 
local  discriminations  and  unreasonable  rates.  The  statutes 
require  the  railroads  to  publish  their  tariffs  of  rates,  and  pro- 
hibit pooling  of  business  and  rebates  and  discriminations  in 
favor  of  particular  shippers.  They  also  establish  the  general 
rule  that  rates  for  a  short  distance  must  not  exceed  those  for  a 
longer  distance  over  the  same  line ;  but  allows  the  commission 
to  allow  exceptions  to  this  rule  in  special  cases  where  it  seems 
necessary. 

In  dealing  with  complaints  under  these  sections  of  the  law, 
the  commission  has  adopted  the  forms  of  a  judicial  trial,  in 


DETACHED  BUEEAUS  251 

which  the  complainants  and  the  defendant  railroads  appear 
with  counsel.  And  their  decisions,  published  in  a  regular  series 
of  reports,  constitute  now  a  considerable  body  of  railway  law, 
much  of  which  is  clearly  established  and  recognized.  But 
obstacles  have  been  encountered,  which  have  prevented  the 
commission  from  accomplishing  much  that  it  has  wished  to  do. 
For  a  time  witnesses  refused  to  testify  before  the  commission, 
under  the  constitutional  guarantee  which  prevents  anyone 
from  being  forced  to  incriminate  himself.  But  this  difficulty 
was  removed  by  an  act  of  1896,  which  relieves  witnesses  from 
prosecution  for  any  crime  shown  by  their  testimony,  thus 
making  it  easier  for  the  commission  to  get  evidence  against  the 
railroad  companies,  by  waiving  the  right  of  prosecution  against 
their  agents.  A  more  serious  obstacle  to  the  devices  of  the 
commission  is  the  fact  that  it  has  no  power  to  execute  its 
decisions;  that  the  cases  may  be  again  tried  in  the  courts, 
where  new  evidence  may  be  presented  and  entirely  different 
decisions  secured.  In  particular  the  Supreme  Court  has 
limited  the  commission's  power  over  unreasonable  rates,  by 
holding  that  even  where  it  finds  a  rate  complained  of  to  be 
unreasonable,  it  cannot  declare  what  will  be  a  reasonable  rate 
for  the  future.1 

Even  if  the  commission  were  given  authority  to  name  reason- 
able rates,  it  is  evident  from  the  decisions  of  the  Supreme 
Court  in  reference  to  rates  established  by  state  authorities, 
that  an  appeal  could  be  taken  from  its  decisions  to  the  courts.2 
In  view  of  these  and  other  considerations  it  would  seem  to  be 
advisable  that  the  commission  should  be  reorganized  on  more 
distinctively  administrative  lines.  A  single  commissioner, 
with  an  adequate  staff,  could  more  effectively  organize  the 
work  of  investigation  and  make  determinations  more  rapidly. 
Appeals  from  such  decisions  to  the  courts  are  to  be  expected 
under  any  organization  or  procedure  of  the  administrative 
authority ;  and  the  existing  arrangement  of  two  inquiries  under 

1 167  U.  S.  479. 

1 164  U.  S.  403,  578. 


252  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

judicial  forms  increases  the  delay  in  final  settlement.  Delays 
in  the  courts  can  be  reduced  by  increasing  the  number  of 
judges. 

CIVIL  SERVICE   COMMISSION 

Entrance  to  subordinate  positions  in  the  national  administra- 
tion is  now  in  large  measure  regulated  by  the  Civil  Service 
Commission,  which  also  has  important  powers  to  prevent 
abuses  in  the  administrative  service.  To  understand  the  pur- 
poses and  methods  of  the  commission,  it  is  necessary  to  note 
former  conditions,  and  to  trace  the  development  of  measures 
for  improvement. 

Appointments  to  subordinate  positions  have  been  made  from 
the  beginning  of  the  national  government  by  the  heads  of 
departments,  in  most  cases  on  the  nomination  of  chiefs  of  bu- 
reaus or  the  principal  local  officials  under  whom  the  persons 
employed  perform  their  duties.  But  the  recommendations  of 
members  of  Congress  early  became  an  important  factor  in 
securing  positions ;  and  with  the  development  of  party  organi- 
zation the  influence  of  party  managers  came  to  be  of  great 
weight,  especially  in  districts  where  the  local  member  of  Con- 
gress was  not  in  political  accord  with  the  President. 

From  the  beginning  there  has  been  no  definite  term  for  such 
subordinate  positions ;  but  they  are  held  subject  to  the  removal 
power  of  the  appointing  authority.  There  is  no  exact  record 
of  removals  of  employees ;  but  it  seems  clear  that  at  first  the 
tenure  in  all  cases  was  practically  one  of  good  behavior.  The 
political  removals  from  presidential  offices  by  Jefferson  was 
probably  followed  by  removals  of  the  same  kind  from  minor 
posts.  More  certainly  there  were  large  numbers  of  political 
removals  throughout  the  administrative  service  when  Jackson 
became  President  in  1829.  The  total  number  in  the  first  year 
of  Jackson's  term  has  been  estimated  at  2,000,1  out  of  25,000 
positions  then  under  the  national  government.  From  this 
time,  with  the  development  of  political  removals  from  presi- 

1  Senator  Holmes  in  the  Senate,  April  28,  1830. 


DETACHED  BUEEAUS  253 

dential  offices,  the  same  custom  came  to  be  more  and  more 
systematically  followed  for  all  grades  of  employees.  It  seems 
probable  that  removals  from  minor  posts  were  always  less  in 
proportion  than  from  the  higher  offices.  But  enough  was  done 
to  disorganize  and  demoralize  many  branches  of  the  adminis- 
tration with  every  party  change  in  the  presidency ;  and  a  good 
deal  in  the  same  direction  at  every  new  administration. 

A  small  step  towards  better  conditions  was  taken  in  1853, 
when  the  clerks  in  the  department  offices  at  Washington  with 
salaries  from  $1,300  to  $1,800  were  grouped  into  four  classes ; 
and  it  was  provided  that  persons  appointed  to  this  * '  classified 
service"  should  be  required  to  take  a  pass  examination  con- 
ducted by  examining  boards  in  each  department.  These 
examinations  were,  however,  limited  to  those  previously 
selected  for  positions ;  and  often  had  no  relation  either  to  the 
candidates'  ability  in  general  or  their  qualifications  for  par- 
ticular posts. 

In  1864  provision  was  made  for  a  small  force  of  consular 
clerks  appointed  after  examinations.  After  this  time  various 
attempts  were  made  in  Congress  to  secure  the  establishment  of 
a  permanent  commission  to  control  admission  to  the  adminis- 
trative service.  President  Grant  supported  this  plan ;  and  in 
1871  an  act  was  passed  authorizing  the  President  to  appoint 
a  commission  for  this  purpose. 

The  commission,  of  which  George  William  Curtis  was  chair- 
man, framed  rules  based  on  the  principle  of  competitive  ex- 
aminations open  to  all  applicants.  But  in  two  years  the 
appropriation  for  the  commission  was  defeated  in  Congress; 
and  the  new  system  had  to  be  given  up  for  the  time.  It  was, 
however,  established  in  a  few  of  the  largest  local  offices,  such 
as  the  custom  house  and  post-office  in  New  York;  and  also, 
after  1877,  in  the  department  of  the  Interior  by  Secretary 
Carl  Schurz. 

On  the  assassination  of  President  Garfield  by  a  disappointed 
office  seeker,  public  opinion  was  aroused  against  the  prevailing 
method  of  patronage  appointments.  But  it  was  not  until 


254 


THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 


nearly  two  years  later,  in  1883,  that  an  act  was  finally  passed 
which  forms  the  basis  for  the  present  system. 

This  act  was  similar  to  that  of  1871.  It  did  not  directly 
restrict  removals,  nor  did  it  of  itself  establish  a  new  system  of 
eontrolling  appointments.  It  provided  for  a  commission  of 
three  persons,  not  more  than  two  of  the  same  political  party, 
to  be  appointed  by  the  President  and  Senate.  This  commission 
was  to  frame  rules  regulating  admission  to  positions  in  the 
classified  service,  which  should  become  effective  when  promul- 
gated by  the  President.  The  act  also  provided  that  the  rules 
should  require  competitive  examinations  and  probationary 
appointments,  to  test  the  capacity  and  fitness  of  candidates, 
but  with  a  preference  for  members  of  the  army  and  navy  dis- 
abled in  the  service.  It  also  prohibited  recommendations  from 
members  of  Congress;  required  appointments  to  be  appor- 
tioned to  the  states  and  territories  on  the  basis  of  population ; 
and  restricted  the  levy  of  political  assessments  from  govern- 
ment officials  and  employees. 

Under  the  rules  first  adopted  competitive  examinations  were 
required  for  new  appointments  to  some  14,000  positions  in  the 
department  offices  at  Washington  and  the  larger  custom  houses 
and  post-offices.  Since  then  the  number  of  competitive  places 
has  been  steadily  increased,  partly  by  the  growth  of  the  govern- 
ment service,  partly  by  new  rules  extending  the  competitive 
system  to  new  classes  of  positions.1  The  most  notable  increase 
1  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  COMPETITIVE  CLASSIFIED  SERVICE 


Period 

President 

llB 

ll 

|| 

ll 

*£h 

I! 

|I 

*l 

July  16,  1883-  January  15,1885. 
January  15,  1885-June  30,  1889 

Arthur.  .  . 
Cleveland. 

15,590 
29,650 

9,889 
53,795 

6,185 
34,626 

2,289 
12,720 

June  30,  1889-  June  30,  1893.  .  . 

Harrison  . 

43,915 

86,366 

52,901 

18,829 

June  30,  1893-  June  30,  1897.  .  . 

Cleveland 

85,886 

150,165 

92,130 

17,630 

June  30,  1897-June  30,  1901  .  .  . 

McKinley. 

106,205 

189,571 

135,398 

37,607 

June  30,  1901-June  30,  1904.  .  . 

Roosevelt. 

135,482 

298,233 

228,570 

101,861 

The  marked  increase  in  appointments  in  the  last  period  is  due  in  large 
part  to  the  inclusion  of  appointments  of  laborers  under  the  navy  yard 


DETACHED  BUREAUS  255 

was  that  made  by  the  ' '  blanket  order ' '  of  President  Cleveland 
in  May,  1896.  President  Roosevelt,  who  was  a  member  of  the 
commission  for  six  years,  has  made  important  extensions  and 
has  greatly  strengthened  the  merit  system  by  other  changes 
in  the  regulations. 

In  1904  there  were  135,000  positions  subject  to  competitive 
examinations,  out  of  280,000  positions  in  the  executive  civil 
service.  The  salaries  for  the  competitive  positions  aggregate 
about  two-thirds  of  the  total  expenditure  of  $180,000,000  for 
salaries.  The  non-competitive  positions  include  the  presi- 
dential offices,  certain  minor  offices,1  employees  whose  duties 
are  of  an  important,  confidential  or  fiduciary  nature,2  the 
70,000  fourth  class  postmasters,  and  laborers. 

The  classified  service  is  divided  into  seven  main  groups: 
the  departmental  service,  the  custom  house  service,  the  post- 
office  service,  the  railway  mail  service,  the  Indian  service,  the 
internal  revenue  service,  and  the  government  printing  service. 
The  departmental  and  post-office  services  each  include  more 
than  forty  per  cent,  of  the  total  number  of  competitive  posi- 
tions; while  the  other  five  divisions  together  have  less  than 
twenty  per  cent.  The  Civil  Service  Commission  also  groups 
the  positions  into  eleven  classes  on  the  basis  of  salary.  About 
one-third  of  those  in  the  classified  service  receive  less  than  $720 
a  year ;  another  third  from  $720  to  $1,200 ;  and  the  remainder 
over  $1,200.  In  1903  there  were  1,428  positions  (including 
presidential  offices)  with  a  salary  of  $2,500  or  more.3 

Examinations  of  applicants  for  positions  are  held  in  every 
state  and  territory  at  least  twice  a  year  under  the  direction  of 
the  Chief  Examiner  of  the  Commission.  Local  boards  of  ex- 
aminers have  been  selected  from  the  government  employees  at 

regulations  and  appointments  to  the  rapidly  developing  rural  delivery 
service. 

1  Attorneys,  pension  surgeons  and  deputy  marshals. 

2  Also  employees  at  post  offices  not  having  free  delivery  and  Indians  in 
the  Indian  service. 

8  Census  Report  on  the  Executive  Service,  Bulletin  12,  p.  36. 


256  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

each  of  the  places  where  examinations  were  held;  but  since 
1902  it  has  been  the  policy  of  the  commission  to  consolidate 
local  boards  in  neighboring  places  and  to  establish  civil  service 
districts,  conducting  all  the  examinations  in  each  district  from 
a  central  point. 

There  are  hundreds  of  different  examinations  for  the  great 
variety  of  positions;  but  these  may  be  grouped  into  three 
principal  classes.  For  a  considerable  proportion  of  positions, 
such  as  janitors,  firemen,  apprentices,  messengers,  watchmen 
and  the  like,  the  examinations  simply  cover  physical  qualifica- 
tions and  experience,  with  no  educational  test.  And  as  this 
class  of  employees  change  very  frequently,  nearly  half  of  the 
new  appointments  each  year  are  to  such  positions.  The  largest 
class  of  positions  are  those  of  a  clerical  nature,  where  the  ex- 
aminations require  a  good  common  school  education,  and  some- 
times—for such  places  as  stenographers,  typewriters  and 
bookkeepers— technical  training  of  a  simple  kind.  More  than 
half  of  the  new  appointments  are  to  such  positions.  The  third 
group  consists  of  professional,  scientific  and  technical  posi- 
tions, requiring  a  high  degree  of  specialized  training.  This 
includes  patent  examiners,  engineers,  law  clerks,  and  experts 
in  many  other  lines.  Not  more  than  a  tenth  of  the  positions 
in  the  classified  service  are  in  this  group ;  and  the  new  appoint- 
ments are  a  much  smaller  proportion.  Examinations  for  this 
class  of  positions  cover  the  technical  qualifications,  training 
and  experience,  and  for  some  of  the  highest  posts  the  latter 
are  the  most  important  parts  of  the  examination. 

Eligible  lists  of  candidates  who  have  passed  the  examination 
for  each  kind  of  position  are  prepared,  with  disabled  veterans 
ranking  first,  and  others  in  the  order  of  their  grades  on  the 
examinations.  Vacancies  are  filled  by  the  selection  of  the 
appointing  officer  from  the  three  persons  standing  highest  on 
the  appropriate  register,  subject  to  the  rules  for  the  geographi- 
cal apportionment  of  appointments.  When  a  name  has  been 
passed  three  times  it  is  dropped  from  the  eligible  list.  Ap- 
pointments are  made  first  for  a  probationary  period  of  six 


DETACHED  BUEEAUS  257 

months ;  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  the  probationer  is  either 
removed  or  receives  a  permanent  appointment. 

For  a  time  the  rules  governing  the  entrance  to  the  service 
were  evaded  by  the  system  of  transfers  from  one  office  to 
another.  Before  a  particular  class  of  positions  was  brought 
under  the  competitive  system,  many  political  appointments 
would  be  made,  in  excess  of  the  number  of  employees  required. 
After  the  places  were  brought  under  the  competitive  rules,  the 
additional  appointees  would  be  transferred  to  other  competi- 
tive positions.  Under  the  present  rules,  however,  transfers 
are  carefully  regulated. 

Promotions  are  now  governed  by  regulations  for  each  branch 
of  the  civil  service.  These  regulations  provide  for  further 
examinations ;  but  also  consider  the  records  of  efficiency  of  the 
candidates,  and  in  some  cases  seniority  of  service  is  given 
weight. 

In  the  earliest  rules  the  only  restriction  in  removals  was  a 
vague  provision  that  they  should  not  be  made  for  political  or 
religious  opinions ;  and  no  method  was  provided  for  enforcing 
this.  President  McKinley  in  1897  established  a  rule  that  no 
removals  should  be  made  from  the  competitive  service  except 
for  just  cause  and  for  reasons  stated  in  writing,  with  notice 
given  before  removal.  President  Roosevelt  supplemented  this 
in  1902  with  an  explanatory  statement  that  "just  cause " 
meant  any  cause  not  merely  political  or  religious,  which  will 
promote  the  efficiency  of  the  service ;  and  that  employees  were 
not  guaranteed  a  trial  before  removal. 

With  the  new  system  of  appointments,  which  removes  the 
incentive  to  removals  for  the  purpose  of  creating  a  vacancy  for 
a  patronage  appointment,  there  has  been  a  great  reduction  in 
the  number  of  removals.  Complete  records  are  not  available ; 
but  in  the  railway  mail  service,  where  the  removals  almost 
equalled  the  whole  number  of  employees  between  1885  and 
1889,  there  have  been  only  two  per  cent,  a  year  since  the 
service  has  been  made  competitive. 
17 


258  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTRATION 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 

Probably  the  largest  printing  and  binding  establishment  in 
the  world  is  the  United  States  Government  Printing  Office. 
This  does  all  the  printing  and  binding,  not  only  for  every 
branch  of  the  national  administration,  but  also  for  both  houses 
of  Congress  and  for  the  national  judiciary,  except  that  done 
by  the  Bureau  of  Engraving  and  Printing  in  the  department 
of  the  Treasury.  This  includes  the  Congressional  Kecord,  pub- 
lished daily  during  the  sessions  of  Congress,  with  a  steno- 
graphic report  of  the  debates  and  proceedings ;  the  reports  of 
the  various  administrative  bureaus  and  departments,  which 
are  also  republished  with  the  reports  of  committees  of  Congress 
in  the  series  of  Congressional  documents;  the  decisions  and 
opinions  of  the  United  States  courts ;  and  the  great  variety  of 
blank  forms  and  other  stationery  for  the  different  government 
offices.  Several  thousand  persons  are  employed,  and  the  ex- 
penditures how  exceed  $6,000,000  a  year.  There  is  no  doubt 
that  this  is  an  extravagant  outlay.  There  is  no  effective 
means  of  limiting  the  amount  of  printing ;  and  a  great  deal  of 
useless  material  is  published. 

In  general  charge  of  the  printing  office  is  the  Public  Printer. 
He  appoints,  under  the  rules  of  the  Civil  Service  Commission, 
the  officers  and  employees,  and  purchases  the  necessary  ma- 
chinery and  material.  But  he  has  no  control  over  what  may  be 
printed  or  how  many  copies  of  each  document.  Under  his 
direction  the  principal  officers  are  a  chief  clerk,  who  has  gen- 
eral supervision  of  the  clerical  force,  a  foreman  of  printing 
and  a  foreman  of  binding.  There  is  also  a  Superintendent  of 
Documents,  who  prepares  an  index  to  the  public  documents, 
and  has  charge  of  their  distribution  and  sale,  except  those 
assigned  to  the  members  of  Congress  and  to  the  various  admin- 
istrative departments  and  bureaus. 

LIBRARY  OF  CONGRESS1 

While  its  name  and  its  early  history  indicate  that  the  Library 
1  Eeport  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  1901,  Pt.  2. 


DETACHED  BUEEAUS  259 

of  Congress  is  simply  a  collection  of  books  for  the  use  of  the 
legislative  branch  of  the  national  government,  its  organization 
and  functions  at  the  present  time  make  it  in  fact  a  national 
library  and  a  part  of  the  national  administration. 

The  beginning  of  the  library  dates  from  1800.  In  con- 
nection with  the  removal  of  the  national  government  to  Wash- 
ington, provision  was  made  for  the  purchase  of  books  to  be  kept 
in  the  Capitol  for  the  use  of  the  members  of  Congress.  This 
collection  had  increased  to  3,000  volumes  when  it  was  destroyed 
in  the  burning  of  the  Capitol  in  1814.  A  new  start  was  made 
by  the  purchase  of  the  library  of  ex-President  Jefferson.  This 
increased  gradually,  mainly  by  purchases,  to  55,000  volumes  in 
1851,  when  two-thirds  of  the  collection  was  lost  by  another  fire. 

Since  then  the  library  has  developed  much  more  rapidly. 
Appropriations  were  made  by  Congress  from  time-to  time  to 
make  specific  purchases.  After  1846  a  copy  of  each  book  copy- 
righted in  the  United  States  was  required  to  be  deposited  with 
the  library.  A  system  of  international  exchanges  of  public 
documents  was  established.  In  1866  the  library  of  the  Smith- 
sonian Institution  was  transferred  to  the  library  of  Congress. 
And  a  number  of  important  private  collections  were  presented 
to  the  library. 

While  the  number  of  volumes  was  thus  increasing  no  ade- 
quate provisions  were  made  for  the  library  in  other  respects. 
The  rooms  in  the  Capitol  were  overcrowded.  The  classifica- 
tion, arrangement  and  cataloguing  of  the  books  was  very 
incomplete,  and  accommodations  for  using  the  library  were 
unsatisfactory.  In  1886  Congress  authorized  the  construction 
of  a  new  library  building,  which  was  completed  in  1897  at  a 
cost  of  $6,932,000.  This  is  the  largest  and  most  magnificent 
library  building  in  the  world.  It  occupies  a  space  of  nearly 
four  acres  on  a  site  of  ten  acres  near  the  Capitol ;  it  can  house 
2,500,000  volumes,  and  contains  now  1,281,000  printed  books 
and  pamphlets,  besides  manuscripts,  maps,  music,  photographs 
and  engravings. 

With  the  transfer  to  the  new  building  there  have  come 


260  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

important  developments  in  the  library  administration.  Large 
additions  have  been  made  to  the  staff,  which  now  numbers  over 
400.  Regular  appropriations  are  made  by  Congress  for  the 
purchase  of  periodicals  and  foreign  books.  The  principal 
reading  rooms  are  open  to  the  public  both  day  and*  evening ; 
and  special  accommodations  are  furnished  to  those  engaged  in 
research  investigations.  The  whole  collection  is  being  recat- 
alogued;  and  in  connection  with  this  the  library  has  under- 
taken to  sell  printed  catalogue  cards  to  libraries  in  all  parts  of 
the  country. 

From  the  beginning  the  Librarian  has  been  appointed  by  the 
President  of  the  United  States.  Until  1814  the  Clerk  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  was  designated.  Since  then  there 
have  been  six  librarians,  one  serving  for  32  years  (John  S. 
Meehan,  1829-1861)  and  another  for  33  years  (A.  R.  Spofford, 
1864-1897).  The  Librarian  makes  appointments  to  the  library 
service  and  has  general  supervision  over  the  library  adminis- 
tration. Other  general  officers  are  the  chief  assistant  libra- 
rian, the  chief  clerk  and  the  Librarian's  secretary. 

The  library  staff  is  classified  into  a  number  of  divisions, 
which  may  be  grouped  as  follows :  (1)  those  having  to  do  with 
the  acquisition  of  material  and  its  preparation  for  use,— 
orders,  cataloguing  and  bibliography,  with  which  is  connected 
a  branch  of  the  Government  Printing  Office ;  (2)  those  having 
the  custody  of  material  in  use,— the  reading  room,  periodicals, 
documents,  manuscripts,  maps,  music  and  prints;  (3)  the 
Law  Library,  which  still  remains  at  the  Capitol,  and  (4)  the 
copyright  office. 

A  national  copyright  law  was  enacted  in  1790 ;  but  it  was 
not  until  1870  that  the*  Librarian  of  Congress  was  given  control 
over  copyright  records.  All  articles  copyrighted  must  be  reg- 
istered with  the  Register  of  Copyrights ;  and  at  least  one  copy 
(of  most  articles  two  copies)  must  be  deposited  in  the  Library 
of  Congress.  There  is  no  investigation  of  claims  as  in  the  Pat- 
ent Office ;  and  a  copyright  is  simply  a  matter  of  record  and 
is  not  a  guarantee  of  literary  or  artistic  property.  By  act 


DETACHED  BUREAUS  261 

of  1891  foreign  authors  may  obtain  copyright  in  the  United 
States  upon  the  same  terms  as  American  authors. 

A  superintendent  of  the  library  building  and  grounds  is  also 
appointed  by  the  President  and  Senate,  and  appoints  and  has 
supervision  over  the  watch,  engineer  and  janitor  force. 

In  conclusion  it  remains  to  note  briefly  a  number  of  institu- 
tions which  have  some  official  relations  to  the  national  admin- 
istration. 

The  International  Bureau  of  American  Republics  was  estab- 
lished in  1890  and  reorganized  in  1901,  for  the  purpose  of 
developing  closer  relations  between  the  iepublics  in  North  and 
South  America.  It  has  custody  of  the  archives  of  the  Inter- 
national American  Congresses,  corresponds  through  diplomatic 
agents  with  the  executive  branches  of  the  American  republics, 
and  publishes  a  monthly  bulletin  of  commercial  information 
about  American  countries.  It  is  supported  by  contributions 
from  the  American  republics  in  proportion  to  their  popu- 
lation. 

The  National  Home  for  Disabled  Volunteer  Soldiers  main- 
tains ten  institutions  for  the  care  of  such  soldiers  in  different 
parts  of  the  country.  The  President  of  the  United  States,  the 
Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  and  the  Secretary  of  War 
are  ex-officiis  members  of  the  Board  of  Managers. 

The  Smithsonian  Institution1  originated  from  a  bequest  of 
James  Smithson,  an  English  scientist,  who  on  his  death  in  1829 
left  his  entire  estate  (which  has  amounted  to  three  quarters  of 
a  million  dollars)  to  the  United  States  to  found  "an  establish- 
ment for  the  increase  and  diffusion  of  knowledge  among  men. ' ' 
The  new  institution  was  not  definitely  organized  until  1846. 
It  has  published  the  results  of  many  scientific  investigations, 
and  has  carried  on  important  scientific  experiments.  It  has 
established  a  national  museum,  the  foremost  collection  in  the 
world  in  the  natural  history,  ethnology,  geology  and  paleon- 
tology of  the  territory  now  included  in  the  United  States. 
1  Popular  Science  Monthly,  vol.  62,  p.  323. 


262  THE  NATIONAL  ADMINISTEATION 

The  American  Historical  Association  presents  the  annual 
reports  of  its  proceedings  to  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  and 
thus  secures  their  publication  as  Congressional  documents. 
Attached  to  the  institution  are  several  bureaus  supported  by 
the  national  government,— the  bureau  of  American  Ethnology, 
the  astrophysical  observatory  and  the  national  zoological  park. 
For  the  support  of  these  about  $500,000  is  appropriated  each 
year,  in  addition  to  the  private  income  of  the  institution,  which 
amounts  to  about  $60,000. 

In  the  act  establishing  the  institution  it  is  provided  that 
the  President  and  his  cabinet  shall  be  members  of  the  insti- 
tution. The  governing  body  is  a  board  of  regents,  composed 
of  the  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  the  Chief  Justice 
of  the  Supreme  Court,  three  United  States  Senators,  three 
members  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  six  others  se- 
lected by  Congress.  The  chief  executive  officer  is  the  secre- 
tary,—who  is  a  permanent  official,  the  present  secretary  being 
the  third  since  the  establishment  of  the  institution.  All  of 
the  officers  are  selected  for  their  qualifications  as  scientific 
students ;  and  political  reasons  have  never  been  considered  in 
their  appointment. 


CASES  CITED 


Alexander,      Sarah      (4      Court     of 

Claims,  218),  207. 
American    Insurance    Co.    v.    Canter 

(1  Peters,  511,  542),  217. 
Armstrong  v.  U.  S.  (182  U.  S.,  222), 

150. 

Bank  v.  Okely  (4  Wheaton,  244),  74. 

Bishop  of  Nesqually  v.  Gibbon  (158 
U.  S.,  155),  197. 

Brig  Aurora  (7  Cranch,  382),  24. 

Butler  v.  Pennsylvania  (10  Howard, 
402),  74. 

Butler  v.  White  (83  Federal  Re- 
porter, 578),  27. 

Caha  v.  U.  S.   (152  U.  S.,  211),  27. 

Campbell  v.  U.  S.  (107  U.  S.,  407), 
62. 

Carr  v.  Gordon  (82  Federal  Report- 
er, 379),  27. 

Cary  v.  Curtis  (3  Howard,  236), 
103. 

Chaffee  &  Co.  v.  U.  S.  (18  Wallace, 
516),  110. 

Cherokee  Nation  v.  Georgia  (5  Pe- 
ters, 1),  198. 

Chinese  exclusion  cases  (130  U.  S., 
600;  149  U.  S.,  698),  31. 

Clinkenbeard  v.  U.  S.  (21  Wallace, 
65),  111. 

Collector  v.  Beggs  (17  Wallace,  182), 
109. 

Collins  v.  U.  S.  (14  Court  of  Claims, 
569),  4. 

Corkle  v.  Maxwell  (3  Blatchford, 
413),  104. 

Covington  Turnpike  Co.  v.  Sandford 
(164  U.  S.,  578),  251. 

Cross  v.  Harrison  (16  Howard,  164, 
193),  33,  217. 

Daniel  Ball,  the  (10  Wallace,  557), 

237. 
Darcy   v.   Allin    (671    Noy,    673;    11 

Coke,  86),  209. 

Debs  in  re  (158  U.  S.,  581),  38. 
DeLIma  v.   Bidwell    (182  U.   S..    1), 

34. 


Dooley  v.  U.  S.  (182  U.  S.,  222),  34, 
150. 

Earnshaw  v.  U.  S.  (146  U.  S.,  60), 

103. 
Elliot    v.     Swartwout     (10    Peters, 

137),    61. 

Elk  v.  Wilkins  (112  U.  S.,  94),  203. 
Erskine   v.    Hohnbach    (14    Wallace, 

613),   111. 
Exchange    v.    McFadon    (7    Cranch, 

116),  163. 

Field,  ex  parte   (5  Blatchford,   63), 

62. 

Field  v.  Clark  (143  U.  S.,  649),  24. 
Fish  v.  U.  S.  (36  Federal  Reporter, 

677),  174. 
Florida     v.    Georgia     (17     Howard, 

478),   168. 
Fok  Yung  Yo  v.   U.   S.    (185   U.  S., 

296,  305),  246. 
Foster   v.   Neilson    (2   Peters,   253), 

31. 
Fourteen    Diamond   Rings  j?.    U.    S. 

(183  U.   S.,  176),  34. 

Garland  ex  parte  (4  Wallace,  333), 

39. 
Gibbon    v.    Ogden    (9   Wheaton,    1), 

237. 
Gilman  v.   Philadelphia  (3  Wallace, 

713),  237. 
Gratiot   v.    U.    S.    (4    Howard,   80), 

26,  62. 

Harkness  v.  Hyde   (98  U.  S.,  476), 

201. 
Harkness  v.  Underbill   (1  Black,  U. 

S.,  316),  197. 
Head  Money  Case  (112  U.  S.,  580), 

31. 
Henderson's    Distilled     Spirits     (14 

Wallace,  44),  110. 
Hennen   ex  parte  (13  Peters,   230), 

61. 
Hepburn    v.    Grlswold    (8    Wallace, 

602),  125. 


264 


CASES  CITED 


lasigl  v.  Collector  (1  Wallace, 
375),  103. 

Interstate  Commerce  Com.  v.  Rail- 
way Co.  (167  U.  S,.  479),  26,  251. 

Jackson,   ear  parte    (96  U.  S.,  727), 

181. 
Jones  v.  U.  S.  (137  U.  S.,  202),  217. 

Kansas    Indians,     the     (5    Wallace, 

737),  201. 
Kendall   v.   U.   S.    (12    Peters,    524, 

610),  17,  42,  63. 
Knight   v.    U.    S.    Land    Association 

(142  U.  S.,   161),  197. 
Kurtz  v.  Moffit  (115  U.  S.,  503),  26. 

Langford    v.   Montelth    (102    U.    S., 

145),  201. 
Lee  Lung  v.   Patterson   (186  U.   S., 

168,   175),   246. 
Legal     tender    cases     (12    Wallace, 

457;  110  U.  S.,  421),  125. 
Lena  Moon  Sing  v.  TJ.  S.  (158  U.  S., 

538),  246. 
Lilienthal's    Tobacco    v.    U.    S.    (97 

U.  S.,  237),  110. 
Little  v.   Barreme   (2  Cranch,  170), 

62. 
Luther   v.    Borden    (7    Howard,    1), 

36. 

Marbury  v.  Madison  (1  Cranch,  137, 
170),  42,  63. 

Meredith  v.  U.  S.  (13  Peters,  486), 
105. 

Merry  man,  ex  parte  (Taney,  246), 
42. 

Milllgan,  ex  parte  (4  Wallace,  2), 
35. 

Mississippi  v.  Johnson  (4  Wallace, 
475),  42,  75. 

Missouri  Pacific  Railway  Co.  v.  Ne- 
braska (164  U.  S.,  403),  251. 

Morgan  v.  Dunn  (84  Federal  Report- 
er, 551),  27. 

National  Bank  v.  County  of  Yankton 

(101  U.  S.,  129),  217. 
Neagle,  in  re  (135  U.  S.,  1,  63),  20, 

175. 
Newton    v.    Commissioners    (100   U. 

S.,  548),  74. 
Nichols  v.  U.  S.    (7   Wallace,  122), 

112. 
Nishimura  Ekiu,  v.  U.  S.  (142  U.  S., 

651,   663),   246. 


Orchard  v.  Alexander  (157  U.  S., 
372),  197. 

Parsons  v.  U.   S.    (167  U.  S.,  324), 

12. 
Passavant  v.  TJ.  S.  (148  U.  S.,  214), 

102. 
Peabody  v.  Stark  (16  Wallace,  240), 

109. 
Pollock      v.      Farmers'     Loan     and 

Trust  C.   (157  U.   S.,  429;  158  U. 

S.,  601),   106. 
Prize  cases  (2  Black,  635),  33. 

Rapier,  in  re  (143  U.  S.,  110),  181. 
Reed,  ex  parte  (100  U.  S.,  13),  62. 

Savings  Bank  v.  U.  S.  (19  Wallace, 

227),    111. 
Shurtleff  v.  U.   S.   (189  U.  S.,  311), 

13. 
Stanley    v.    Schwalby    (162    U.    S., 

255),  168. 
Swaim  v.  U.  S.  (165  U.  S.,  553),  26. 

Taylor  v.  Beckham  (178  U.  S.,  548), 

74. 
Taylor    v.    Kercheval     (82    Federal 

Reporter,  497),  27. 
Taylor  v.   U.   S.    (3   Howard,    197), 

110. 

Texas  v.  White  (7  Wallace,  700),  36. 
Thacher's  Distilled   Spirits    (103   U, 

S.,   679),  110. 
Thomas  Swan,   the    (6  Benedict,   U. 

S.,    42),   240. 
Thomas   v.    Gay    (169    U.    S.,    264), 

201. 
Tracy  v.  Swartwout  (10  Peters,  80), 

61. 

U.  S.  v.  Allen  (14  Federal  Reporter, 
263),  111,  112. 

U.  S.  v.  Avery  (Deady's  Reports,  204 
24  Federal  Cases,  902),  12. 

U.  S.  v.  Barrows  (1  Abbott,  U.  S., 
351),  62. 

U.  S.  v.  Boecker  (21  Wallace,  652, 
655),  109. 

U.  S.  v.  Cobb  (11  Federal  Report- 
er, 76),  62. 

U.  S.  v.  Doherty  (27  Federal  Re- 
porter, 790),  75. 

U.  S.  v.  Eaton  (144  U.  S.,  677),  27. 

U.  S.  v.  Eliason  (16  Peters,  291), 
23,  26. 

U.  S.  v.  Freeman  (3  Howard,  118), 
26. 


CASES  CITED 


265 


U.  S.  v.  Germaine   (99  U.  S.,  508), 

3,  74. 
U.  S.  v.  Hartwell  (6  Wallace,  385), 

74. 
U.  S.  v.  Hodson   (10  Wallace,  395), 

110. 
U.  S.  v.  Holllday  (3  Wallace,  407), 

201. 
U.  S.  v.  Howland  (2  Cranch  C.  C., 

508),   105. 
U.  S.  v.  Kagama   (118  U.  S.,  377), 

201. 
TJ.   S.   v.   Kaufman    (96   U.   S.   567), 

111. 
U.   S.  v.  Kendall    (5  Cranch  C.  C., 

163,   272),   17. 

U.  S.  v.  Kirby  (7  Wallace,  486),  75. 
U.  S.  v.  Klein  (13  Wallace,  128),  40. 
U.  S.  v.  Lalone  (44  Federal  Report- 
er, 475),  207. 
U.  S.  v.  Langston   (118  U.  S.,  389), 

51. 
U.  S.  v.  McBratney  (104  U.  S.,  621), 

201. 
U.   S.  v.  Macdanlel   (7  Peters,   14), 

19. 
U.   S.   v.   Maurice    (2   Brock   C.    C., 

96),  74. 

U.  S.  v.  Mouat  (124  TL  S.,  303),  74. 
U.  S.   v.   Pacific  Railroad   (4  Dillon, 

66),   112. 


U.  S.  v.  Pacific  Railroad  et  al.  (4 
Dillon,  71),  111. 

U.  S.  v.  San  Jacinto  Tin  Co.  (102 
U.  S.,  2T3),  20. 

TJ.  S.  v.  Schmoller  (10  Federal  Re- 
porter, 547),  207. 

U.  S.  v.  Schumann  (7  Sawyer  C.  C., 
439),  174. 

U.  S.  v.  Schurz  (102  U.  S.,  378),  43. 

U.  S.  v.  Scott  (25  Federal  Reporter, 
470),  207. 

U.  S.  v.  Smith  (124  U.  S.,  525),  74. 

U.  S.  v.  Wilson  (7  Peters,  150),  39. 

Utah  and  Northern  Railway  v. 
Fisher  (116  U.  S.,  28),  201. 

Wagoner  v.  Evans  (170  U.  S.,  588), 

201. 

Well  v.  Nickles  (104  U.  S.,  444),  20. 
Wells,    eso   parte    (18    Howard,    37), 

39. 
Westray  v.  U.  S.  (18  Wallace,  322), 

105. 
Whitney    v.    Robertson    (124   U.    S., 

190),   31,   32. 
Wilcox  i?.  Jackson   (13  Peters,  498), 

23. 
Worcester    v.     Georgia     (6     Peters, 

515),   201. 


INDEX 


Accounting  and  auditing,  79,  97, 
101,  119-122,  144,  160,  172,  197. 

Adams,  John  :  on  board  of  war,  134 ; 
diplomatic  service,  81,  84 ;  re- 
movals by,  14,  15. 

Adams,  John  Quincy :  diplomatic 
service,  82,  84  ;  Secretary  of  State, 
64;  removals  by,  14,  15. 

Adee,    A.   A.,   80. 

Adjutant-General,    142. 

Administrative  law :  opinions  of 
judge  advocates-general,  144, 
161 ;  opinions  of  attorney -general, 
166 ;  decisions  of  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  189.  See  also  appeals, 
executive  regulations  and  ordi- 
nance power. 

Administrative  organization,   70-76. 

Africa,  82. 

Agricultural  colleges,  193. 

Agriculture,  department  of,  56,  220- 
229. 

Agrostology,  division  of,  221,  226. 

Alabama,   199. 

Alaska,  83,  191,  195,  196,  218,     229. 

Algiers,   153. 

Allotments  to  Indians,  201,  203. 

Ambassadors,    81,    82. 

American  historical  associations, 
262. 

Animal  industry,  bureau  of,  221, 
225. 

Annapolis,    Md.,   162. 

Antietam,    148. 

Appeals,  administrative:  to  the 
President,  20;  to  heads  of  de- 
partments, 62,  75 ;  in  customs 
administration,  102;  in  internal 
revenue  administration,  111 ;  in 
auditing  accounts,  120;  to  Sec- 
retary of  the  Interior,  61,  189, 
197,  207. 

Appointments :  President's  power, 
3,  83,  89,  107;  by  heads  of  de- 
partments, 61 ;  bureaus  of,  79,  97, 
172;  political  influence  in,  72,  83, 
178,  202,  252;  non-partisan,  213, 
214,  223,  233,  254-257. 

Appraisals  for  customs  duties,   102. 


Appropriation  Bills,  50. 

Archives,    63,    79. 

Arizona,   196,  217. 

Arlington,  Va.,  148,  227. 

Army,  the:  regulations,  21,  22,  26; 
use  of,  37 ;  history  of,  135-140 ; 
appropriation  act  of  1878,  37, 
175 ;  war  college,  148. 

Arthur,  Chester  A. :  the  civil  serv- 
ice, 254. 

Asia,  82. 

Assistant  Attorneys-General,  171, 
189. 

Assistant  Secretaries,  71,  78,  97, 
141,  158,  171,  185,  190,  222,  232. 

Astrophysical   observatory,   262. 

Atlanta,  Ga.,  170. 

Attorney-General :  English  office, 
165  ;  office  established,  56 ;  duties 
of,  68,  167-170,  209,  234;  opin- 
ions cited,  20,  37,  70,  122, 167,  208. 

Auditor  for  the  Post-Office  depart- 
ment, 116,  121. 

Auditors  of  the  treasury,  119,  120, 
197. 

Augusta,    Me.,    208. 

Austria-Hungary,    82. 

Baltimore :  custom  house,  100 ;  sub- 
treasury,  116 ;  immigration  office, 
246. 

Bancroft,  George,  85,  162. 

Banks  of  the  United  States,  113, 
126. 

Barbary  pirates,  153. 

Barry,   W.  T.,   178. 

Basel,  90. 

Bayard,  Thomas  F.,  85. 

Beaufort,  N.   C.,  244. 

Berlin,  88,  90. 

Biological  Survey,  228. 

Board  organization,  71,  242. 

Bonded  warehouses,   99,    104. 

Book-keeping.     See  accounts. 

Boston :  custom  house,  100 ;  sub- 
treasury,  115,  116;  navy  yard, 
159;  post-office,  180;  pension 
office,  208 ;  immigration  office, 
246. 


267 


268 


INDEX 


Botanical    investigations,    226. 
Boundary         commission,         United 

States   and   Mexico,   80. 
Bristol,    Eng.,    90. 
Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  159,  180. 
Buchanan,         James :         diplomatic 

service,    85;    Secretary    of    State, 

64 ;  removals  by,   15 ;  use  of  the 

army,  51. 
Buffalo,  208. 
Bulgaria,  82. 
Bureaus,    70.     See    under    titles    of 

different  bureaus  and  officers. 

Cabinet,  the :  organization,  55- 
58 ;  powers  and  functions,  58-69. 

Calcutta,   88. 

Calhoun,    John    C.,    136. 

California,  124,  149,  194,  196,  217. 

Canada,  182. 

Canals,   146,  147. 

Capitol,  the,  219,  259. 

Carlisle,    Pa.,    203. 

Cass,   Lewis,   85. 

Cavite,   159. 

Census,    the,    234. 

Centralization,   61,   72. 

Certiorari,  75,  104. 

Chaffee,  Adna  R.,  140. 

Charges  d'affaires,  81,  82. 

Charleston,  S.  C.,  115. 

Chase,   Salmon  P.,  35,   66. 

Chefoo,    90. 

Chemical   laboratories,    215,   227. 

Cherokee  nation  v.  Georgia,   198. 

Chicago :  custom  house,  100 ;  sub- 
treasury,  116 ;  post-office,  180 ; 
pension  office,  208. 

Chickamauga,  148. 

Chief  clerks,  78,  97,  172. 

China,   82,   88,   153. 

Chinese    exclusion,    245. 

Cincinnati :  sub-treasury,  116. 

Civil  Service  Commission,  5,  21,  56, 
71,  73,  252-257. 

Civil  war,  34,  37,  106,  117,  118,  137, 
148,  149,  154,  161,  206. 

Classified  service,  255. 

Cleveland,  Grover :  conflict  with 
Senate,  11;  railroad  strikes  of 
1894,  38;  his  cabinet,  56;  the 
civil  service,  254,  255. 

Coast  and  Geodetic  Survey,  243. 

Coinage,   123-lz4. 

Collectors :  of  customs,  61,  99,  100 ; 
of  internal  revenue,  107. 

Colonies.   67,   149-151. 

Columbus,  O.,  208. 


Commerce  and  Labor,  department 
of,  56,  80,  95,  230-247. 

Commissary-general  of  subsistence, 
143. 

Commissioner :  rank  of,  71 :  of 
customs,  101,  119 ;  of  education, 
213;  of  immigration,  246;  of  In- 
dian affairs,  203 ;  of  internal 
revenue,  96,  107;  of  the  Land 
Office,  196 ;  of  patents,  210,  221 ; 
of  pensions,  207. 

Commissions  to  office,  42,  63,   169. 

Comptroller :  of  the  currency,  95, 
96,  127 ;  of  the  treasury,  96,  116, 
119,  120. 

Comptroller-General  of  Great  Brit- 
ain, 121. 

Concord,    N.    H.,    208. 

Confederate    government,    142. 

Confederation  of  1781,  81,  94,  118, 
152,  190. 

Congress :  control  over  appoint- 
ments, 3,  5  ;  debate  on  removals, 
8 ;  control  over  administration, 
16,  40,  47-53 ;  executive  regula- 
tions, 23 ;  control  over  treaties, 
31 ;  control  in  military  affairs, 
33,  37, ;  republican  government, 
35 ;  control  over  finances,  65. 

Congress  of  Vienna,  81. 

Construction  and  repair,  bureau  of, 
159. 

Consular  clerks,  86,  90,   253. 

Consular  courts,   88. 

Consular  reports,  87,  236. 

Consular  service,  21,  79,  85-91. 

Continental  Congress,  77,  86,  93, 
118,  125,  133,  152,  157,  177. 

Contract  alien   labor,    245. 

Copyright  laws,  259,  260. 

Corporations,    bureau   of,    232. 

Cotton  goods,  customs  revenue 
from,  98. 

Cour  des  Comptes,  121. 

Court  of  Claims,  111,  122,  168,  212. 

Courtesy  of  the  Senate,  6,  45. 

Courts   martial,   144,   161. 

Courts,  United  States.  See  judiciary 
and  Supreme  Court. 

Criminal  prosecutions,  174. 

Cuba,   149,   150. 

Cumberland   road,    146. 

Currency   administration,   123-128. 

Curtis,  George  William,  253. 

Customs  administration,  21,  22,  55, 
87,  97-105. 

Dawes  commission,  205. 


INDEX 


269 


Deane,  Silas,  81. 

Debt,  national,  118. 

Decentralization,  8. 

Delegation    of   legislative   power   25, 

26. 

Delivery  of  mall,    183. 
Denver,  123. 

Departments:  creation  of,  56;  or- 
ganization 70.  See  also  under 

names    of    the    different    depart- 

mfents. 

Des  Moines,  208. 
Detatched  bureaus,  248-262. 
Detroit,  100,  136,  208. 
Dewey,  George,  157. 
Diplomatic  negotiations,   29,   64,   79, 
Diplomatic  service,  79,  81-85. 
Direction,    power    of :     Presidential, 

16 ;  heads  of  departments,  61. 
Director :    rank,    71 ;   of   the  census, 

235;    of    the    geological    survey, 

214  ;  of  the  mint,  123. 
Dissenting  opinions,  25,   35. 
District   attorneys,    U.    S.,    173. 
District  of  Columbia,  145,  170,  216, 

218,    219.     See   also    Washington, 

D.  C. 

Divisions,    administrative,    70. 
Domestic    violence,    suppression    of. 

35,  138. 

Education:  land  grants,  193;  of  In 
dians,  202,  203 ;  bureau  of,  213. 

Ellsworth,   H.  L.,  221. 

Ellis  Island,   246. 

Embargo  act  of  1794,  24. 

Engineers :  in  the  army,  145 ;  in 
the  navy,  157 ;  reclamation  serv- 
ice, 215. 

England.     See  Great  Britain. 

Engraving  and  printing,  131. 

Entomology,   division  of,   228. 

Entry   of  imports,   101. 

Envoys,  81,  82. 

Equipment,  bureau  of,  160. 

Ethnology,  bureau  of,  262. 

Examinations :  pilots  and  seamen, 
129;  naval  officers,  162;  civil 
service,  253,  254,  256. 

Examiners :  national  banks,  128 ; 
pension,  208 ;  patent  210 ;  civil 
service,  255. 

Executive  regulations,  21,  41  62, 
79,  100,  254. 

Exequaturs,  79. 

Expenditures,    117. 

Experiment   stations,   221    226,    228. 

Extradition,   32,  64,  79. 


Fairbanks,    Richard,    176. 

Farragut,  David  G.,  156. 

Fees :  consular,  89 ;  customs  serv- 
ice, 99 ;  patent  office,  211. 

Fermented  liquors,  internal  rev- 
enue from,  106,  109. 

Field  v.  Clark,  24. 

Fillmore  Millard :  removals  by,  15. 

Finance   ministers,    64. 

Fisheries,    bureau   of,    244. 

Florida,  149,  191,  217. 

Foreign   commerce,  79,  87,  228  236. 

Foreign   relations,  28-32   64,   77-91. 

Forestry,   193,  196,  227. 

Fortifications,   145. 

Fort   Leavenworth,    148. 

Fortress  Monroe,  148. 

Fort  Riley,  148. 

Four  year  tenure,  4,  178. 

Fowler,  John,  90. 

France :  centralized  administration, 
72 ;  ambassador  to,  82 ;  diplo- 
matic service,  84 ;  consular  serv- 
ice, 85,  90 ;  cour  des  comptes, 
121;  naval  conflicts  with,  153; 
postal  service,  176,  184. 

Frankfort,    Germany,    90. 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  77,  81,  177. 

Fuller,  Melville  W.,  25. 

Gadsden   purchase,   191. 

Gallatin,    Albert,    66,   85,    146. 

Garfield,  James  A.,  253. 

General  agent,  172. 

General  appraisers,  board  of,  13  99, 
103. 

General  board  of  the  navy,  158. 

General  staff,  138,  141. 

Geological  survey,  214. 

Georgia,   199. 

Germany,  ambassador  to,  82. 

Gettysburg,  148. 

Gold  certificates,   126. 

Government  buildings,  131,  179,  219. 

Government  printing  office,  258. 

Governors,   State,  8,  63. 

Governors  of  Territories,  217. 

Grant,  Ulysses  S. :  general,  140 ;  sec- 
retary of  war,  66 ;  tenure  of  office 
acts,  11. 

Great  Britain  :  the  cabinet,  54 ;  war 
minister,  67,  141 ;  minister  to,  82 ; 
consular  service,  85,  90;  comp- 
troller-general, 121 ;  attorney-gen- 
eral, 165;  lord  chancellor,  169; 
postal  service,  176,  184;  patents, 
208. 

Greece,  82. 


270 


INDEX 


Greenbacks,  125. 
Guam,  164. 

Habeas  Corpus,  writ  of,  34,  42,  75, 
149,  246. 

Hague  conference,  83. 

Halifax,  246. 

Hamilton,  Alexander :  on  removal 
power,  9 ;  secretary  of  the  treas- 
ury, 65,  66,  95. 

Hansa  towns,   85. 

Harrison,  Benjamon  :  the  civil  serv- 
ice, 254. 

Harrison,  William  Henry :  removals 
by,  15. 

Hawaiian  Islands,  191,  217,  229. 

Hay,  John,  64,  85. 

Hayes,  Rutherford  B. :  vetoes  of  ap- 
propriation bills,  52. 

Homestead  act,  193,  195. 

Hospitals :  merchant  marine,  129 ; 
army,  143 ;  navy,  160. 

House  of  Representatives,  52.  See 
also  Congress  and  Speaker. 

Hunter,  William,  80. 

Hydrographic   office,    160. 

Illinois,  106. 

immigration,    244-247. 

Impeachment,  42,  52. 

Indiana,  106,  146. 

Indian  agents,  202. 

Indianapolis,    208. 

Indian  service,  21,  37,  197-204. 

Indian  wars,  136,  137,  199,  206. 

Injunction,   42,    75,    112. 

Inspections  :  national  banks,  128  ; 
post-office,  186 ;  live  stock,  225 ; 
steamboats,  239. 

Inspectors :  post-office,  186 ;  steam- 
boat, 240  ;  lighthouse,  242  ;  immi- 
gration, 247. 

Inspectors-general,    143. 

Instructions,   41. 

Insular  affairs,  bureau  of,  151. 

Internal  commerce,  236,  237-244. 

Interior,  department  of  the,  4,  56, 
78,  95,  172,  188-219,  231. 

Internal  revenue  service,  21,  95, 
105-112. 

International  bureau  of  American 
Republics,  261. 

International  law,  79,  163. 

International  Postal  Union,  182. 

International  Prison  Commission, 
80. 

Interstate  Commerce  Commission, 
26,  56,  71,  249-252. 


Investigation    committees,    48. 

Iron     and    steel,     customs     revenue 

from,  98. 

Irrigation  works,   215. 
Isthmian  canal,  147. 
Italy,  82,  83. 

Jackson,  Andrew :  Governor  of 
Florida,  149 ;  removals  under,  14, 
15,  17,  252 ;  removal  of  deposits, 
114 ;  Indian  policy,  199. 

Japan,  153. 

Jay,  John,  78,  81. 

Jefferson,  Thomas ;  diplomatic 
service,  81,  84 ;  removals  under, 
14,  15,  252;  library,  259. 

Johnson,  Andrew :  conflict  with 
Senate,  10 ;  removals  by,  15 ;  im- 
peachment, 53. 

Jones,   John   Paul,   152. 

Judge  Advocate-General :  of  army, 
144;  of  navy,  161. 

Judicial  functions  of  consuls,  88. 

Judiciary,  United  States :  aggre- 
gate salaries,  4  ;  on  executive  reg- 
ulations, 27,  62 ;  control  over  ad- 
ministrative officers,  75 ;  suits 
against  collectors,  103;  jurisdic- 
tion of,  123,  212.  See  also  Su- 
preme Court. 

Jurisdiction  over  Indians,  200. 

Justice,  department  of,  56,   165-175. 

Kansas-Nebraska  troubles,    137. 
Kendall,  Amos,   178. 
Kentucky,   106,    217. 
Knox,  Henry,   66,   134. 
Knoxville,   208. 

Labor,  bureau  of,  233. 

Laboratories,  130,  215,  227,  247. 

Lamar,  L.  Q.  C.,  25. 

Lands,   public,    190-197. 

Laurens,   Henry,   81. 

Lawrence,   Kans.,   203. 

League   Island   navy  yard,   159. 

Leaven  worth,   Kans,   170. 

Legal  tender  notes,  125. 

Legates,  81. 

Legislatures  of  the  Territories,  217. 

Library  of  Congress,  258-261. 

Lieutenant-general,    140,    141. 

Life   saving   service,    130. 

Lighthouse  establishment,  71,  241. 

Lincoln,  Abraham :  removals  by, 
15 ;  emancipation  proclamation, 
33 ;  military  powers,  34,  37 ;  his 
cabinet,  56;  postal  appointments, 
178. 


INDEX 


271 


Lincoln,    Benjamin,    134. 

Linens,  customs  revenue  from,   98. 

Liverpool,  88. 

Livingston,    Robert    R.,    78. 

Loans,   118. 

Local  officers,   71,  100. 

London,   Eng.,  88,  89. 

Louisiana  purchase,  118  191,  217. 

Louisiana        Purchase        Exposition 

Commission,   80. 
Louisville,  147,  208. 

McKinley,  William:  the  civil  serv- 
ice, 254,  257. 

Madison,  James :  on  removal 
power,  10;  removals  by,  14,  15. 

Mail,   classes  of,   181. 

Mandamus,  75. 

Manufactures,  bureau  of,  232. 

Maracaibo,  90. 

Marbury  v.   Madison,   42. 

Mare  Island  navy  yard,  159. 

Marine  corps,    157. 

Marine  hospitals,   129. 

Marseilles,  90. 

Marsh,  George  P.,  83. 

Marshall,    John,    198. 

Marshals,  TJ.  S.,  174,  234. 

Martial  law,   34,  149. 

Maryland,   146. 

Mason,  Frank  H.,  90. 

Massachusetts    Bay,    176. 

Medicine  and  surgery,  bureau  of, 
160. 

Meehan,  John  S.,  260. 

Melbourne,  88. 

Merchant  marine :  use  of  army  to 
protect,  38 ;  duties  of  consuls, 
87 ;  medical  examination  of  pilots 
and  seamen,  129 ;  nautical  publi- 
cations, 160,  243;  administrative 
bureaus,  237-244. 

Messina,   90. 

Mexican  war,  115,  117,  118,  136, 
149,  153,  191,  206. 

Mexico,  32,  80,  82,  182. 

Mexico,  city  of,  88. 

Miles,   Nelson  A.,   140. 

Military  academy,  67,  147. 

Military  cemetery,   148. 

Military  government,  33,  149,  164. 

Military  parks,   148. 

Military  powers  of  President,  32. 

Military  secretary,  142. 

Militia,   State,   36,   135,   136,   139. 

Miller,   Samuel  F.,  35. 

Milwaukee,  208. 

Mining  land  laws,  194,  195. 


Ministerial  responsibility,  51,  59. 

Ministers   plenipotentiary,   81,   82. 

Mints,   123. 

Mississippi  river,  147. 

Missouri,   106. 

Missouri  river,  147. 

Mobile,  154. 

Morrill  tariff  act,   98. 

Money  orders,    179,   184. 

Monroe,    James :   diplomatic   service, 

84;  removals  by,  14,  15. 
Montenegro,  82. 

Mormons,  expedition  against,  137. 
Morris,  Robert,  93,  94. 
Municipal   administration,   71. 


Nassau,  90. 

National  banks,  113,  115,  126-128. 

National  home  for  disabled  volun- 
teer soldiers,  261. 

National    parks,    219. 

National  zoological   park,  262. 

Naval  officers,  156. 

Naval  officers  in  customs  service, 
99. 

Naval  Academy,  162. 

Naval  examining  and  retiring 
boards,  161. 

Naval  observatory,  160. 

Naval  war  college,  163. 

Naval  war  records,  161. 

Navigation,  bureaus  of :  depart- 
ment of  the  navy,  161 ;  depart- 
ment of  commerce  and  labor,  238. 

Navigation    laws,    238. 

Navigation,   rules  of,  241. 

Navy,  department  of  the,  21,  56, 
152-164. 

Neale,   Thomas,   177. 

Neill,  Richard  R.,  84. 

New  Mexico,  149,  217. 

New  Orleans,  100,  115,  116,  123, 
136. 

Newport  R.  I.,  155,  162,  163. 

Newton,   Isaac,   221. 

New  York :  customs  service,  100, 
103,  253;  sub-treasury,  115,  116; 
post-office,  180,  253 ;  pension 
office,  208;  immigration  office, 
246. 

New  York  State,  99,  106. 

Non-intercourse  acts,  24. 

Non-partisan  positions,  80,  145, 
213,  214,  223,  233,  254-257. 

Norfolk,    Va.,    159. 

Northwest  Territory,  190,  217. 

Nuncios  81. 


272 


INDEX 


Oterkammergericht,  121. 

Offices :  creation  of,  3 ;  number  of 
Presidential,  4;  tenure,  4,  73; 
political  appointments,  73 ;  na- 
ture of,  74 ;  duties  of  officers,  75. 

Ohio,   106,   193. 

Ohio   river,    147. 

Oklahoma,   217. 

Oleomargarine,  internal  revenue 
from,  106. 

Ordinance  of  1787,  190,  217. 

Ordinance  power :  of  President,  21 ; 
of  heads  of  departments,  62.  See 
also  executive  regulations. 

Ordinance  bureaus :  army,  145 ; 
navy,  160. 

Oregon^    191,    196,    217. 

Osgood,   Samuel,   177. 


Panama  canal,   147. 

Paper   currency,    124-126. 

Pardoning  power,  39. 

Paris,  88,  89. 

Passports,  79. 

Patent  office,  21,  71,  208-212. 

Pauncefote,   Lord,   84. 

Paymaster-general :        army,        144 ; 

.    navy,  160. 

Penitentiaries,   U.    S.,   170. 

Pennsylvania,   106,  177. 

Pensacola,  Fla.,  159. 

Pension  bureau,  21,  71,  205-208. 

Perry,    "Commodore,"    153. 

Philadelphia :     custom    house,    100 ; 

sub-treasury,     115,      166 ;      mint, 

123;  post-office,  177,  180;  pension 

office,     208 ;     immigration     office, 

246. 
Philippine    Islands,    118,    149,    150, 

151,  191. 

Pierce,  Franklin :  removals  by,  15. 
Pierce,  Texas,  227. 
Piracy,    suppression   of,    153. 
Piscataqua,   Me.,  177. 
Pittsburgh,  135,  208. 
Plant  industry,  bureau  of,  225. 
Political   influence  in   appointments, 

72,  83,  178,  202,  252. 
Polk,  James  K. :  removals  by,  15. 
Pomological    investigations,    226. 
Porter,  David  D.,  156. 
Porto  Rico,  149,  150,  191,  218,  229. 
Ports  of  delivery,  99. 
Ports  of  entry,  99. 
Postal  service,  21,  38,  95,  176-185. 
Postmaster-General,    68,     116,     185, 

234. 


Post-office  department :  creation  of, 
56 ;  assistant  attorney-general, 
172;  auditor  for,  116,  121; 
postal  service,  4,  176-185 ;  cen- 
tral administration,  185-187. 

Pre-emption   act,  193. 

President,  the :  election  of,  1 ; 
power  of  appointment,  3,  83,  89, 
107 ;  power  of  removal,  8,  121 ; 
power  of  direction,  16;  ordi- 
nance power,  21 ;  foreign  rela- 
tions, 28 ;  military  powers,  32 ; 
pardoning  power,  39 ;  limitations 
on,  47 ;  forms  of  action,  44 ;  rem- 
edies against,  42  ;  message  of,  47  ; 
relations  with  state  governors, 
63 ;  government  of  Philippine 
Islands,  150. 

Printing,  government,  131,  258. 

Prize   courts,    164. 

Proclamations,  41,  63,  79. 

Prussia.     Oberkammergericht,    121. 

Public  Health  and  Marine  Hospital 
service,  129. 

Public  Lands,  21,  37,  190-197. 

Public  Works,  67,  145-147. 


Qualifications    for    office,    5,    7,    89. 

See  also  Examinations. 
Quartermaster-general,    143. 
Quebec,  136,  246. 
Quo  WarrantOj  75. 


Railroad  land  grants,  194. 

Railroad  strikes  of  1894,  38,  138. 

Railway  Mail  Service,  179,  183,  257. 

Reciprocity  Commission,   80. 

Reclamation  service,  215. 

Record  and  Pension  office,  142. 

Register  of  the  Treasury,  116,  119, 
239. 

Remedies  judicial :  against  presi- 
dent, 42;  against  heads  of  de- 
partments, 63;  against  officers 
in  general,  75. 

Removal  from  office:  president's 
power  of,  8 ;  record  of,  13  ;  by 
heads  of  departments,  61. 

Representatives :  influence  in  ap- 
pointments, 5,  73,  148,  163. 

Reservations:  forest,  196,  227;  In- 
dian, 202. 

Revenues  of  the  government,  117. 

Revenue  bills,   50. 

Revenue  Cutter  Service,  21,  22,  96, 
100,  101,  129. 


INDEX 


273 


Revolutionary  War,  77,  118,  135, 
152,  177,  206. 

Riders  to  appropriation  bills,  51. 

Rio  do  Janiero,  88. 

River  and  harbor  improvements,  67, 
146. 

Road  inquiries,  office  of,  222,  229. 

Rock  Island  Arsenal,  145. 

Roosevelt,  George  W.,  90. 

Roosevelt,  Theodore :  diplomatic  ap- 
pointments, 84 ;  the  civil  service, 
255,  257. 

Root,  Elihu,  68,  138. 

Roumania,  82. 

Russia :  ambassador  to,  82. 

St.  Louis:  sub-treasury,  115,  116. 

Salaries:  determined  by  Congress, 
2,  51 ;  heads  of  departments,  56 ; 
army  officers,  140 ;  navy  officers, 
157;  other  officials,  71,  78,  85, 
88,  97,  107,  120,  255. 

Samoan    Islands,    164. 

San  Francisco,  100,  116  123,  155, 
208,  246. 

Sanitary   administration,  88,   129. 

Sault  Ste.  Marie,  147. 

Schofleld,  John  M.,  66,  140. 

Schurz,  Carl,  253. 

Scientific  bureaus,  130,  214,  223- 
229,  243,  244,  247,  261. 

Scott,  Winfield,  140. 

Secretaries  of  Legation,  82,  83,  85. 

Secretary  of  Agriculture,  69,  222. 

Secretary  of  Commerce  and  Labor, 
69,  232,  242. 

Secretary  of  the  Interior:  appeals 
to,  61,  189,  207;  duties  of,  69, 
234. 

Secretary  of  the  Navy,  68. 

Secretary  of  State,  29,  63,  78,  209. 

Secretary  of  the  Treasury :  presi- 
dential control,  16,  94 ;  reports, 
52 ;  on  customs  districts,  55 ; 
control  over  collectors,  61 ;  ap- 
peals to,  62,  103 ;  duties,  64,  241 ; 
control  over  auditors,  121. 

Secretary  of  War,  66,  151,  209. 

Secret  Service,  131. 

Seed  distribution,  221,  226. 

Senate,  the :  power  over  appoint- 
ments, 5,  45 ;  control  over  remov- 
als, 10 ;  control  over  foreign  re- 
lations, 29,  30,  46;  no  ordinance 
power,  45 ;  as  court  of  impeach- 
ment, 52. 

Senators:  influence  in  appoint- 
ments, 5,  73,  148,  133. 


Servia,  82. 

Seward,  William  H.,  64. 

Sheridan,  P.  S.,  140. 

Sherman,  John,  66. 

Sherman,  W.  T.,  66,  140. 

Shiloh,  148. 

Shipping  commissioners,   238. 

Signal  Corps,  144. 

Silks,  customs  revenue  from,  98. 

Silver  certificates,  125. 

Silver  purchases,  124. 

Slave  trade,  suppression  of,  153. 

Smithsonian    Institution,   223,   261. 

Soils,  bureau  of,  227. 

Solicitor-General,  170. 

Solicitors,  171. 

Spanish  War,  68,  118,  138,  149,  155. 

Speaker  of  the  House  of  Represent- 
atives, 147. 

Spirits,  internal  revenue  duties  on, 
105,  106,  108. 

Spofford,  A.  R.,  260. 

Spoils  system:  See  political  influ- 
ence in  appointments. 

Springfield  (Mass.)   armory,  145. 

Stamps :  internal   revenue,   110. 

Standards,  bureau  of,  247. 

Stanton,  Edwin  M.,  68. 

State  administration,  71. 

State  banks,  126. 

State,  department  of,  4,  56,  77-91, 
132,  219,  231,  234. 

Statistics,  bureaus  of:  department 
of  agriculture,  228 ;  department 
of  commerce  and  labor,  233-236. 

Statistics  of  railroads,  250. 

Steamboat  inspection,  239. 

Steam  Engineering,   bureau  of,   160. 

Steuben,  Baron,  135. 

Sub-treasuries,  115,  116. 

Sugar,  customs  revenue  from,  98. 

Summerville,  S.  C.,  227. 

Superintendents :  postal  service, 
186 ;  coast  and  geodetic  survey, 
243 ;  of  documents,  258. 

Supervising  architect,   130. 

Supervisors  of  the  census,  234. 

Supplies  and  Accounts,  bureau  of, 
160. 

Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States:  on  power  of  removal,  12; 
on  power  of  direction,  19;  on 
ordinance  power,  23,  26 ;  on  mar- 
tial law,  34 ;  republican  form  of 
government,  35 ;  on  use  of  army, 
38 ;  on  pardoning  power,  40 ;  con- 
trol over  president,  42  ;  on  in- 
come tax,  106;  on  internal  rev- 


274 


INDEX 


enue  laws,  110;  on  taxing  pow- 
ers of  military  government,  150 ; 
on  power  over  territories,  217 ; 
on  inter-state  commerce  commis- 
sion, 26,  251.  See  also  Judici- 
ary. 

Surgeon-general :  marine  hospital 
service,  129;  army,  143;  navy, 
161. 

Surveyors  of  customs,  99,  100. 

Surveys,  192. 

Suspension  of  specie  payments,  114, 
115. 

Swayne,  Noah  H.,  35. 

Tariff  laws.     See  Customs  admlnis- 

stration. 

Taylor,  Zachary,  15. 
Tenure  of  office,   4,   73,   80,   83,   89, 

178,  214,  223. 

Tenure  of  office  acts,  4,  10-12,  178. 
Territories,    216-219. 
Texas,  191,  217. 
Thomas,  W.  W.,  83. 
Timber  culture  act,  193. 
Tobacco  :  customs  revenue  from,  98  ; 

internal  revenue  from,  106,  110. 
Topeka,  208. 

Topographical  maps,   215. 
Transportation  of  mail,  178,  182. 
Treasurer  of  the  United  States,  96, 

116,  126. 
Treasury,  department  of  the,  4,  56, 

92-132,   231. 
Treasury,  the  independent,  95,  113- 

119. 

Treasury  notes,  125. 
Treaties,  30,  63,  64,  87,  200. 
Tunis,  153. 
Turkey,  88. 
Tutulla,  164. 
Tyler,  John :  removals  by,  15  ;  veto 

by,  114. 

Van  Buren,  Martin :  diplomatic  serv- 
ice, 84 ;  removals  by,  14,  15. 
Vancouver,   246. 


Vetoes,  presidential,  52,  114. 

Veto  power  of  territorial  governors, 

217. 

Vermont,  217. 
Vicksburg,   148,  154. 
Vignaud,  Henry,  84. 
Virginia,   177. 

Wall  street,  116. 

Walker,  Francis  A.,  234. 

Walker  tariff  act,  98. 

War,  department  of,  56,  133-151, 
223. 

War  of  1813,  114,  136,  152,  206. 

Washington,  George :  general,  140 ; 
his  cabinet,  56 ;  removals,  14,  15. 

Washington,  D.  C. :  the  treasury, 
115 ;  capture  of,  136 ;  army  war 
college,  148  ;  navy  yard,  159  ;  post- 
office  department,  186 ;  depart- 
ment of  the  interior,  189 ;  pension 
office,  208 ;  weather  bureau,  224. 
See  also  District  of  Columbia. 

Washington,  State  of,  196. 

Watervliet   arsenal,   145. 

Wayne,  James  M.,  35. 

Weather  bureau,  223. 

Weights  and  measures,  247. 

West  Point,  135. 

West  Virginia,  217. 

Wharton,  Francis,  79. 

White,  Henry,  84. 

Whitney,  William  C.,  154. 

Whiskey  rebellion,  105. 

Willets  Point,  N.  Y.,  148. 

Williamsburg,  Va.,  177. 

Wirt,   William,   122. 

Wisconsin,  107. 

Woods  Holl,  Mass.,  244. 

Wool  and  woolens,  customs  revenue 
from,  98. 

Wright,  Carroll  D.,  233. 

Wyoming,  196. 

Yards  and  docks,  naval,  159. 
Yokohama,  88. 
Young,  S.  B.  M.,  140. 


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